Rāgiṇī Bhairavī. A Case Study of Select rāgacitras from the Miniature Paintings of Mewar (16th–17th Century C.E.)

Abstract

he concept of painting melodic modes ( rāgas ) constitutes a unique genre of Indian painting. What was its genesis? How was it that an abstract form ( amūrtarūpa ) transformed into a concrete form ( mūrtarūpa ) in a material medium? This paper is divided into two parts; the first part addresses a brief history of Indian music, the antiquity of the rāga form it seeks to investigate and the relationship between music and rāgacitra s. The second part deals with the case study of Rāgiṇī Bhairavī. The Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata deals with two distinct forms of ancient Indian music d Gandharva and Gāna. Abhinavagupta, the foremost commentator of the Nāṭyaśāstra a carefully distinguishing between the two systems of music. Gandharva music represented the classical form of ancient Indian music, while Gāna or Dhruva-gāna was the music of the theatre, moulded to suit the structure and atmosphere of dramatic plots. The fundamental distinction was that Gandharva music had a rigid framework and was ritualistic music resulting in transcendental merit. On the other hand, Dhruva-gāna was free from rigid, ritualistic restrictions. Its ultimate purpose was to produce rasa, which is an evocative mood created by the art object and thereby imparts pleasure to the audience. The Dhruva songs were set to musical forms such as grāma-rāga s, rāga s, bhāṣā , vibhāṣā etc. Rāga s are explicitly referred to in the seventh century musicological text Bṛhaddeśi of Mātaṅga. He clearly states that ““that which is pleasing to people is called rāga .” 1) T