AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: THE ABHIRI RAGINI OF HINDOL RAGA
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Eastern India, ca. 1700 - 1730

Opaque pigments and ink heightened with gold on wove paper, the composition depicting a scene usually associated with the Abhiri Ragini of the Hindola Raga, showing a woman feeding three snakes emerging from rounded lotas (water vessels) with a golden cup filled with milk, standing behind her a mesmerised female attendant holding a long fly whisk, a white marble pavilion in the background, set within white and black rules, and burnished bright red borders, at the top a fainted black ink Devanagari inscription reading 'Ragini Aahiri', the reverse plain, 22cm x 18.8cm.

Our painting shows a strong degree of affinity with another illustration of the Abhiri Ragini in a Ragamala series from Mankot, Punjab Hills, dated to the first quarter of the 18th century, purchased in India by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy in 1916, and now part of the Museum of Fine Art (MFA) Boston (inv. no. 17.3219).