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Ragamala: Incredible Miniature Paintings Explore A Fascinating Indian Art Form

vikram — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 08:29:33 +0000

RagaMala: Incredible Miniature Paintings Explore A Fascinating Indian Art Form

A Raga is a “permutation and combination of notes or frequencies depicted by melodic motions, which are capable of producing a pleasant, sensation, mood, or emotion in the mind of the listener,” according to the definition of music in India.

These six Ragas, or note combinations, are essentially what ancient Indian writings refer to as. Each Raga has eight Ragaputra’s, or sons, and five Ragini, or wives. While the Ragini’s have a heptatonic scale and are regarded as female, the Ragas, which are considered male, have a pentatonic scale.

The six major Ragas – Bhairav, Dipaka, Sri, Malkaunsa, Megha, and Hindola – are intended to be sung in six seasons of the year: summer, monsoon, autumn, early winter, winter, and spring.

Ragamala was one of the most well-liked styles of Indian miniature painting for around 400 years. Admirers of painting, poetry, and music would have requested and traded these wonderful painted melodies. However, this genre declined in the late 19th century as a result of the collapse in aristocratic patronage after flourishing in the royal courts of India from the second half of the 15th century.

In the majority of Indian painting centers, ragamalas were produced, although in most instances, the painters and scribes’ identities are still unknown. We can identify ragamalas of specific eras and locations by interpreting inscriptions and regional images.

Visual Analysis Of Ragamala Paintings

Bhairava is the head of the first family of Ragas and is shown as a form of Lord Shiva in most ragamala albums. The Raga, which is sung before morning to elicit vitality, spells out the rhythmic image of Shiva in his Bhirava form.
In contrast to Lord Bhairava’s celestial aspect, Malkaunsa is shown as a human lord. His Ragains, who are fair-skinned and aristocratic, are said to be steeped in the color of love. Malkaunsa has unfathomable depth as a Raga and is frequently sung after midnight.

Raga Megha is a melon of clouds and rains and is intended to be performed during the rainy season. Its depiction may portray heavy storm clouds or lightning streaks while a joyful Krishna dallies with a slew of Maidens.

The Raga Hindola is portrayed by a swing, as its name would imply. On the swing is a prince or Lord Krishna, either with or without his consort. Also present are a number of female companions. Rain is frequently included in the background of the picture to indicate the start of a cooler season.

Raga Dipak: Tansen, the renowned musician at the court of Emperor Akbar, is rumored to have ignited a palace fire when Tansen was told to perform Raga Dipaka, meaning flame. However, painters have had no trouble rendering this Raga. Varied schools of Indian miniature painting have different approaches to the necessary flame. It might represent a lamp in the bedroom of a pair of regal lovers or be connected to Diwali, the festival of lights.

Raga Sri: The harvest fortunes were initially linked to Raga Sri, which was named after the goddess Lakshmi. There are several methods to visualize the raga, but Sri is the only one to do it with a horse-headed kinnara (a celestial musician). When it is absent, Malkaunsa’s iconography can readily be confused with it.

Early Ragamalas

The sacred element of the raga – five or more musical notes upon which a song is played – resides at its core. A raga is more than just a sound; it should elicit an emotional response in the listener; it should ‘color’ the mind.

Hindustani musicians from the middle ages named each raga after a god, possibly to help them remember its melodic structure. Later, intrigued poets of the late medieval era gave the ragas human characteristics and developed their stories using strong verbal description. These tales, along with other important books on Indian classical music, served as the ragamala painting’s poetic inspiration.

On the margins of a now-missing manuscript from western India, dating to around 1475, is the earliest instance of ragamala painting that is known to exist. The text was animated with pictures of people dancing and musical notes that had personalities.

Surviving example of ragamala art and the 15th-century text seen here are separated by around a century.

The Ragamala Migration

Ragamala painting subjects and styles were passed down through the Mughal era (16th–19th century) due in large part to the frequent shifts in administrative and military posts around the empire. Painters and scribes most likely traveled the Indian subcontinent with their aristocratic customers. Curiously, imagery frequently found in early ragamalas from Rajasthan in northern India is reproduced in later ragamalas from other remote regions of the Empire.

In the Deccan region of southern India, where larger ragamala sets with up to 86 paintings were more common, artists from Rajasthan, who typically created small ragamala sets of 36 or 42 paintings, would go. When given orders for more intricate ragamalas, Rajasthani painters and writers would recreate themes they were already familiar with and fill in the gaps.
The movement of ragamalas and artists from southern India to the north had an impact on the development of “hybrid” iconography that was based on conjecture and puns on the various connotations of the word “raga.”

Resource Suggestion

Visit Heritage Lab, Ragmala Paintings: Visualizing Music & Mood : https://www.theheritagelab.in/ragmala-paintings/

Indian Miniature Mughal Paintings – The Mughal & Persian school

brainartadmin — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 07:20:43 +0000

To understand this school in its proper perspective, the traditions in which it has its roots should be considered. The source of Mughal painting was Persian. The art of Persia was greatly influenced by Mongolian art. Mughal paintings is distinctive but Indian. It has the flavour of Persia but the inborn charm of Indian tradition.

Miniature paintings made as either book illustration or as a single works. These paintings evolved during rule of various Mughal Emperors in India. The paintings often revolved around themes like battles, legendary stories, Hunting scenes, wildlife. These painting plays important medium to narrate the tall tales of Mughal emperors. Popularity of this art made its way to various Indian courts as well. Victoria & Albert Museum in London has largest and impressive collection of these paintings.

Miniature Painting Origin

When Humayun, returned from his exile he bought two Persian artists – Mir sayyid Ali & Abd as-Samad. Humayun instructed artist to create many paintings which also includes ‘Khamsa of Nizami’. These paintings had influence of traditional style Persian art. This new style of art form called as ‘Mughal Painting’ was born. Mughal Painting was further developed by subsequent Mughal emperors. Idea of self portait was intreseting for many rulers. Mugal Art gained popularity among Royals. It was a great artistic medium to display there bravery and achivements. After death of Humayun, his son Akbar made Mughal painting further more famous.

Under the reign of Akbar Mughal paintings evolved and developed at a rapid pace. As he ordered creation of many paintings kept close attention to final output. He was very particular about details and artistic elements. Tutinama’ which translates to ‘Tales of a Parrot.’ ‘Tutinama’ is an Persian story divided into 52 parts. Akbar commissioned 250 miniature paintings that narrated ‘Tutinama’ in an artistic manner. Abdus Samad and Mir Sayyid Ali Iranian artist completed this work, it took almost 5 years to complete. During this period artist’s illustrated Babar Nama, Akbar nama, Hamza nama & razm nama and other beautifully illustrated manuscripts. ‘Gulistan’, which was Saadi Shirazi’s masterpiece, created at Fatehpur Sikri. 1570 to 1585, Akbar hired 100’s of artists who practiced Paintings in his court.

After the death of Akbar, Mughal Painting continued to grow under the reign of Jahangir. He ordered his artist’s to follow ‘Single Point Perspective’, influenced by Eurpoean paintings. This gave a whole new perspective to Mughal painting. Paintings commissioned by Jahangir had finer brush strokes and ligher colors in artwork. ‘Jahangir nama‘ commissioned by him.

Prominent Painters During the Mughal Period

Mughal art, which started as an art of illustration and excelled in portraiture in the succeeding period, which was the best, became at last a rather weak expression of life around in pictorial terms. Starting with strong Persian bias, it slowly assimilated a blend of the indigenous with an efflorescence in which the foreign flavour was finally eliminated almost completely. No description of Mughal painting would be complete with a reference of the delicate treatments of birds, animals and plants which rank among some of the greatest masterpieces of the period.

Initially, Persian painters, such as Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd al-Samad played a key role in the growth and development of Mughal paintings in India. Later on, during the 16th and 17th centuries, painters like Daswanth, Basawan, Miskin and Lal worked in the Mughal court and kept the art alive.

During Akbar’s reign, an artist named Kesu Das started implementing European techniques in Mughal paintings. A renowned painter named Govardhan worked under three major Mughal emperors – Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Other prominent artists of the Mughal period were Kamal, Mushfiq and Fazl. Many other artists, including Bhawanidas and Dalchand, started working at Rajput courts when the Mughal Empire began to decline.

Class Objective of Mughal art for 14yrs+

Explanation of history and origin of Mughal Art. How Mughal art was influenced by Persia & Mongolian art.
Mir sayyid Ali & Abd as-Samad two important names in miniature paintings
Known paintings created during Humayun & Akbar period
Introduction to Mughal architecture which is remarkably symmetrical and decorative amalgam of Persian, Turkish, and Indian architecture.