Varari Ragini

This painting is from a ragamala or 'garland of ragas' - paintings which illustrate musical modes (ragas) through human activities. This one is identified in the inscriptions as Varari ragini, and shows the usual iconography for this ragini (female raga) of a lady fanning a prince with a chauri (yak-tail fly-whisk).

This ragamala series is a puzzling blend of styles and is based on an original set done in Ahmednagar in the Deccan in the late 16th century. The group to which this painting belongs, however, appears to have been painted (possibly also in Ahmednagar) in the 17th century, but the faces seem to have been overpainted or replaced in the 19th century.