Vasanta Raga (painting, recto), from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies) Series

The season of “Vasanta” or spring is evoked in several elements in this painting of the Vasanta Raga. Here, the blue-skinned Hindu god Krishna alongside gopis (cowgirls) celebrates Holi, the festival of colors. The scene unfolds outdoors, underneath an awning framed by flowering trees. Krishna playfully holds a young maiden as another maiden prepares a syringe to shoot colored water onto the pair. A third maiden plays a percussion instrument to add to the merriment. Holi is celebrated annually on the first full moon day of the month in March, and is considered to mark the transition from wintertime to spring, an appropriate subject for a painting of Vasanta Raga. This painting is a pictorial metaphor for a raga, a musical phrase that is used as the basis for improvisation, belonging to a Ragamala or “Garland of melodies” series. The orange borders and the red and green color fields in the architectural frame of the painting links it to the Ragamala or "Garland of Ragas" series attributed to the Sirohi court. The overall composition reflects the artists’ knowledge of the late seventeenth-century Malwa court styles. Another folio from the same series is 1960.155. Rajput, Rajasthani, Sirohi School.