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Lot Essay
The name of the Ragaputra, 'Harsha, fourth son of Bhairava' is inscribed above on the uncolored border in a two-line Sanskrit stanza from the Ragamala text composed by the poet Kshemakarna in 1570. Kshemakarna's work had a profound influence on the painting of ragamala illustrations. His so-called Kshemakarna or "Mesakarna" System describes 6 ragas, 31 raginis and 49 putras (sons) in two series of verses. In the first series, each musical mode is described as as a personality; in the second series of verses, 98-109, the music of each raga, ragini and ragaputra is compared to a sound in nature, such as birds or mammals, or the sound of fire or wind) or in the household (for example, the sound of churning butter, grinding spices or drilling of pearls.
This remarkable Ragamala with its elaborate surface patterns was previously thought to originate in the Deccan but has more recently been described as popular Mughal. It is of particular interest as it appears to be the earliest surviving example of the use of Kshemakarna's text. For an illustrated article on this set see J. Bautze, "Iconographic Remarks on Some Folios of the oldest Illustrated Kshemakarna Ragamala", Exploration in the History of South Asia: Essays in Honour of Dietmar Rothermund, 1999, pp.155-162.
This remarkable Ragamala with its elaborate surface patterns was previously thought to originate in the Deccan but has more recently been described as popular Mughal. It is of particular interest as it appears to be the earliest surviving example of the use of Kshemakarna's text. For an illustrated article on this set see J. Bautze, "Iconographic Remarks on Some Folios of the oldest Illustrated Kshemakarna Ragamala", Exploration in the History of South Asia: Essays in Honour of Dietmar Rothermund, 1999, pp.155-162.