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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1931.17
Title
Saranga Ragini (painting, recto), from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies) Series
Classification
Manuscripts
Work Type
manuscript folio
Date
c. 1680
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India, Rajasthan, Mewar
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/216686

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
Dimensions
sight: 36.7 x 23.5 cm (14 7/16 x 9 1/4 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, William M. Prichard Fund
Accession Year
1931
Object Number
1931.17
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
The three registers of the painting depict scenes associated with the Saranga Ragini. In the center register, is the core iconographic feature of the Saranga Ragini: a lady listening to music. Here a royal woman, seated cross-legged under an awning, faces a pair of musicians. One of the musicians plays a double-faced drum or a mridangam, while the other plays cymbals or a manjira.

The top register depicts other women of the royal household. At the bottom of the painting is a group leading a chariot. The figures seated in the chariot could be identified as Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu and his consort, Sita, and those leading could be the monkey-god Hanuman alongside Rama’s three brothers, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna. Rama, Sita, and Hanuman are primary figures in the Hindu epic, the Ramayana.

This painting is a pictorial metaphor for a raga, a musical phrase that is used as the basis for improvisation, possibly belonging to a Ragamala or “Garland of melodies” which was produced at the Mewar court in the late seventeenth century. Another painting from the same series is 1931.16, 1931.18, 1931.19 and 1932.32. Rajput, Rajasthani, Mewar School.

Exhibition History

  • The Music Room, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/22/1984 - 11/11/1984
  • Where Traditions Meet: Painting in India from the 15th-17th Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/05/2003 - 12/07/2003

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu