Ragini Todi
Description
Artist: Nisaruddin
Ragini Todi is one of the most beautiful folios of the famous Chavand Ragamala dated 1605. The heroine holding a vina is proceeding somewhere and turns to look back at the two blackbuck fawns following her, gently coaxing them to return home.
Generally, Ragini Todi is described as a lady attracting deer. A careful study of the painting makes it obvious that the lady is walking away while the fawns follow her. The imagery is reminiscent of the famous scene from Abhijnana Shakuntala where a fawn follows Shakuntala who, on taking leave of the members of the hermitage of Kanva, proceeds towards the kingdom of Bharata. She feeds the tiny one fresh shoots of grass and coaxes it to return. Sangita Damodara, one of the earliest treatises on the iconography of the ragas, datable to the 15th century, visualizes Ragini Todi in a similar manner:
The term todi connotes parting or breaking in Persian. Traditionally Ragini Todi is also considered to evoke sad feelings. The pain of parting with the daughter after her marriage, so poignantly described by Kalidasa, is an unforgettable experience for every parent. It is possible that musicologists derived the iconography of this raga from this description of Kalidasa. The melody itself may have developed from the songs which are sung at the time of bidding the daughter goodbye. Even today, these songs form a part of the wedding ritual of almost every community in India.
The date of the painting was read by Khandalavala himself in the colophon of the set which is now in the Gopikrishna Kanoria collection.
Karl and Meherbai Khandalavala Collection
Collection
Indian Miniature Paintings
Object Type
Miniature Painting
Material
Paper
Schools/Culture/Period
Rajasthani
Technique
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Date
1605 CE
Location
Mewar, Chavand
Dimension
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