The moon god, illustrating the musical mode Raga Chandra

Gouache on paper.

Ragamala (‘Garland of Ragas’) paintings were believed to depict the essential qualities of the ragas or musical modes, which in the Punjab Hills were grouped with their ‘wives’ and ‘sons’ (ragini and ragaputra) in extended series of 84 pictures. Here the mode Chandra (moon), which is performed in the hours after midnight, is shown as the moon god holding a lotus and riding a blackbuck within the face of a full moon. Other paintings in this exhibition are from the same ragamalaseries [LI118.83, LI118.86, LI118.85, LI118.114].

To view a high-resolution version of this image and for further information please visit the Yousef Jameel Online Centre at the Ashmolean.