Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
The domain of Indian Art and Literature is profusely interwoven and interconnected. The interpretation of poetries through paintings was a profound form of art associating words with their visuals. Along with this, Ragamala is an artform developed in the Indian subcontinent that translates musical modes and symphonies into beautiful visuals. Every representation of Raga is associated with a different emotion, environment and time of the day illustrated as lyrical sentiment representing themes like love and separation. Megha Mallar Raga is associated with the arrival of monsoon with the visual iconography of a prince or Lord Krishna dancing in the rain as a constant. Here in this particular folio, the inscription in the header texts depicts it as a Ragini. A prince is playing the instrument Vina dancing joyously covered with jewellry wearing a yellow tunic (jama in the forest along with two female musicians. One of them is playing a ‘Mridangam’ (drums) while the other one is playing ‘Manjira’ (hand cymbals). The sky is dark and is filled with heavy monsoon clouds. The rain is pouring down heavily. There is a muster of storks flying over the trees. Storks usually symbolize the changing of the seasons. In the foreground we can see two waterfowl swimming amidst lily pads witnessing those moments of immense joy.
It is interesting to notice that the artist has not depicted lightning in this painting as a thin white flash, but as a thick, undulating golden-orange ribbon snaking across the dark storm clouds. This highly stylized, serpentine ribbon motif is a classic iconographic convention of the Rajasthani miniature tradition (most famously utilized in the Bundi and Kota schools) to symbolize the rolling thunder and fierce electricity of the Indian monsoon. Fascinatingly, Ragamala paintings like these are phenomenal examples of deliberate, historical synesthesia. These folios were kept in royal albums ('muraqqas’) and brought out during specific seasons or hours of the day. A Rajput prince would view this image while court musicians played the corresponding 'Megh Malhar' raga, allowing the viewer to simultaneously "see the music" and "hear the painting."
