R?GAM?L?

R?GAM?L? Literally meaning "a garland of melodies," R?gam?l? paintings illustrate Indian melodic forms, or r?gas and R?gin?s. Indian musicians also use this term while playing several melodies in a continuous sequence. An Indian melody, or r?ga, is a composition of musical modes having a sequence or structure with a specific mood or significance. R?gam?l? paintings visualize such melodies in pictorial forms.

The source of R?gam?l? illustrations lies in the descriptions of melodies, using vivid verbal imagery, by the Indian musicologists of the late medieval period. The Sangeeta Ratn?kara of Sharangadeva, an important treatise from the twelfth century a.d., for the first time mentions the presiding deity of each r?ga, associating the r?gas and r?gin?s with certain gods. The growing number of r?gas and their increasing variety created the need for analytical study and classification into relative groups. The earliest systematic exposition of such classification divides them into eight major "male" r?gas and three derivative "female" r?gin?s, each listed in the R?ga S?gara, written around 1440. That work also gives the iconographic description of r?gas such as Bhairava, Bhup?la, Patamañjar?, M?lava, R?mapriy?, Gurjar?, Tod?, and Madhum?dhav?, in the chapter titled R?gadhy?na Vidh?nam. Treatises on musicology of this period suggest that the names of the melodies have contextual origins, and it is possible that this context is reflected in the iconography of each r?ga. This context includes: the structure of the r?ga, its geographical area of origin, the festivals and seasons associated with each, and the tunes used by the people of certain professions while at work or engaged in religious celebrations. For instance, R?gini ?savar? is connected with the music of the saper?, or people belonging to a snake-charmer community, who entice snakes with the music of their special instrument, known as bin. R?gini ? savar?, therefore depicts a girl who, having lured snakes to her, is holding them in her hands. R?ga Vasanta, meaning the spring season, depicts the festival of colors celebrated at the advent of the spring; R?ga Megha-malh?r (megha meaning "cloud") illustrates the monsoon season. R?ga M?ru (maru meaning "desert") has a geographical context and is illustrated by depicting camel riders or camels. This r?ga must have its origin in the desert areas of Rajasthan. Melodies also relate to the moods of heros and heroines. R?ga Bibh?sa (twilight), for instance, depicts a couple in a romantic mood, aiming an arrow at a rooster as he announces the advent of morning.

The art of miniature painting on paper was also gaining patronage during the seventeenth century, and the Rajput royal families and patrons also began commissioning secular paintings including the r?gam?l?. The earliest visual depiction of melodies found to date is in a Kalpas?tra of about 1475, initially published by Sarabhai Nawab, in which the r?gas and r?gin?s are shown in purely iconic form, as the forms of gods and goddesses. R?gam?l? acquired the importance of an independent theme during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal rule, when secular themes were in demand. The earliest set of r?gam?l? was painted in what is known as the Chaurapanchashika style of the Delhi Jaunpur area, in the mid-sixteenth century. It splendidly depicts the main iconographic features of each r?ga, the literary description of which is inscribed on the reverse.

However, the real precursor of the Rajasthani R?gam?l? of the later period is the famous Chawand R?gam?l? painting by the artist Nisardi in Chawand (Chanda), Mewar, in 1605. Set against a red lacquer background, a dark sky, and a variety of floral decorative plants, the r?gas and r?gin?s are depicted with bold draftsmanship. During the same period, the R?gam?l? theme found patronage from circles more influenced by the Mughal idiom. A R?gam?l? dated 1605, painted in the popular Mughal style, offers an interesting companion to the set Chawand R?gam?l?. The paintings have much more realistic renderings, while the iconography remains the same.

The cultural climate of the Deccan was particularly vibrant during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries under the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II (r. 1580–1627), who was a lover of painting and a fine musician himself. A few folios from several R?gam?l? sets, painted in Bijapur and Ahmednagar styles and dating from the late sixteenth century, are dispersed in various collections.

Later treatises on R?gam?l? were written in Hindi. Many more R?gam?l? were added to the original set of thirty-six, and the artists began to take more liberties in the iconography of the R?gam?l? of the later periods. From the seventeenth century onward, R?gam?l? paintings were commonly depicted by the painters of all schools of miniature painting in India. Though generally the iconographic details are the same, the northern and the southern versions vary considerably. In the north the literary version of R?gam?l? used by the artists of the Kangra Valley or the Basohli differs from that used in Rajasthan.

A number of sets from Sirohi, Bundi, Kotah, Marwar, Kangra, and Hyderabad have come to light. R?gam?l? paintings were also painted in the women's quarters of the Havelis. It is possible that the visual form of these paintings was easily understood by many people, or they may have been created only for the enjoyment of the connoisseur.

Kalpana Desai

See alsoMiniatures ; R?ga

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ebeling, Klaus. Ragamala Painting. Basil: Ravi Kumar, 1973. Sarangadev. Sangitaratnakar of Sarangadeva. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1991.

Waldschmidt, Ernst, and R. L. Waldschmidt. Miniatures of Musical Inspiration in the Collection of the Berlin Museums of Indian Art, Parts I and II. Berlin: Museums für Indische Kunst, 1975.