Asavari Ragini from a Ragamala (garland of melodies)

Maker(s)
Artist: Shaykh Husain Shaykh Ali Shaykh Hatim
Historical period(s)
Reign of Rao Raja Singh, 1591
Movement
Bundi Court
School
Rajput School
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 20.5 x 11 cm (8 1/16 x 4 5/16 in)
Geography
India, Uttar Pradesh state, Chunar
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1985.3
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Painting

Keywords
duck, fish, goose, Hada dynasty, India, music, ragamala, snake, yogini
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

This painting belongs to a ragamala (garland of ragas, or musical modes), which forms a unique genre that may be termed "pictorial music."  Musical modes are visualized as male ragas or female raginis. They correspond to varying emotional states and are associated with specific times of day or seasons of year.

Here, a dark-skinned woman sits alone on a rocky outcrop where scorpions play, beside a lotus pond teeming with fish, ducks, and geese. In testimony to her harmony with the natural world, the woman holds a snake in one hand and offers it a morsel, while several other snakes descend from the surrounding trees and move out of the foliage toward her. The inscription above the painting identifies her as Asavari ragini, a muscial mode of lonely longing that very likely originated some fifteen hundred years ago among tribal snake charmers.

Published References
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. Rajput Painting at Bundi and Kota. no. 32 Ascona, Switzerland. pp. 6-10.
Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
SI Usage Statement

Usage Conditions Apply

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery welcome information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

citation | Save this image How to download an image | Request Permission | Terms of Use