A lady offers milk to a snake, illustrating the musical mode Ramakali Ragini

Gouache with gold on paper.

The musical mode Ramakali is depicted as a lady offering a cup of milk to a snake which has coiled itself around a tree. Snakes are both feared and revered in India, and local snake (naga) cults are widespread. Often their propitiatory rites include offerings of milk. Here the noble lady pays her respects to the resident naga while seated comfortably on a carpet beside a stream.

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