Pahadi Ragamala – Romancing the Raga through Lyrical Paintings

This article examines the Pahadi school of Indian miniature painting, with particular emphasis on Ragamala paintings. Ragamala paintings depict Indian musical modes through art. Each painting represents a specific season, day, and even the time of day, illustrating the ideal setting when a particular ‘raga’ is sung. These paintings are created with specific colours that evoke certain moods or feelings, often accompanied by poetic text at the top, called ‘dhyana’ verse, which mentions the name of the ‘raga’ or ‘ragini’. Typically, the paintings focus on love themes, but others depict martial aspects of ‘raga’, or portray a nayaka or nayika (hero or heroine), or groups of people in a particular state or activity at a specific time, embodying the emotion of the ‘raga’. The Pahadi paintings discussed here are analysed in relation to the emotional essence of the ‘raga’, often involving elements of pathos, longing, anguish, and romance. The paintings are interpreted through the understanding of musicologists regarding the ‘raga’. The article concentrates on Ragamala paintings from various sub-schools within the broader Pahadi miniature painting tradition. The ‘ragas’ associated with feelings and pathos include Todi, Gujari, Gauri, Gunkari, Malasri, Dhanasri, Kakubha, Kamodini, among others; they represent different emotional states such as union and ‘viraha’, the pain of separation, which are common themes in Ragamala paintings. The Kangra school of painting is renowned for its lyrical expression of emotions, becoming its hallmark, and was notably influenced by texts like the ‘Gita-Govinda’ of Jayadeva (12th century). Basohli paintings draw inspiration from the ‘Rasamanjari’ (15th century) of Bhanudatta. The article traces the development of the Ragamala genre, illustrating it with representative examples from the Pahadi tradition.

Keywords – Pahadi painting, Ragamala, miniature painting, Indian miniatures, lyrical paintings, Raga,  Ragaputra, Kangra, Guler, Basohli, Chamba, Bilaspur, Gita-Govinda, Rasamanjari, dhyana-verse.