Malasri Ragini (painting, recto), from the Chunar Ragamala (Garland of Melodies) Series

This painting depicts the Malasri Ragini or the Gaund Ragini (mentioned in the caption at the top-right of the painting), which is typically set at night. The moon in the dark, star-studded sky is a fine crescent and appears to be waxing, during the first few days of the bright half of the month. With a palatial architectural space, a lady alone in a bedchamber scatters lotus petals, preparing a fragrant bed for her beloved. The Malasri Ragini evokes a mood of lonely anticipation and the intense longing for union with the beloved. 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. It belongs to the Chunar Ragamala series, which was painted in Chunar, near Varanasi, in February 1591 by painters of the imperial Mughal atelier. The inscription on the last page of the set, the Kedara Ragini (NMAA, Washington D.C. F1985.2), reveals that “The book Ragamala has been prepared [presented] on Wednesday at noon in the locality of Chunar. The work of the pupils of Mir Sayyid Ali Nadirulumulk Humayunshahi and Khwaja Abdul-Samad Shirin-Qalam the slaves Shaykh Husayn and Shaykh Ali and Shakyh Hatim son of Shaykh Phul Chisthi. Written on the 29th of Rabi’ II of the year 999 [February 24, 1591].” Other folios from the same series are now at the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C., Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi.