The Ragachitras of Mewar: Indian Musical Modes in Rajasthani Miniature Painting

Contents: Foreword. 1. History of Indian Music. 2. Rasa as the Foundation of Indian Aesthetics. 3. An Introduction to the Ragachitras of the Gem Palace and Bharat Kala Bhavan Collections. 4. Deities. 5. Ascetics. 6. Seasons. 7. Lady in the Grove. 8. Srngara Rasa. 9. Miscellaneous. Appendix: Architectural Edifices as Depicted in Mewar Miniature Painting. Bibliography. Index.

This book is a combination of both the theory of classical Indian music and its representation in visual arts in the form of ragachitras or raga paintings. It includes a textual, aesthetic and iconographic analysis of two significant sets of ragachitra folios from the Gem Palace Collection of the National Museum (New Delhi) and Bharat Kala Bhavan (Varanasi) through a comprehensive survey of primary sources in the form of musicological and iconographical treatises. In order to establish text-image coordination, verses of the ragachitras taken up in this book have been translated by the author from Sanskrit to English for the first time. The author’s proficiency in Sanskrit, classical Indian music and Art History has been instrumental in making this book a scholarly publication.