Ragamala

About this book

Ragamala is a unique form of Indian miniature painting developed by combining a variety of sources including musical codes and accompanying poetry to indicate the time of day, or season, in which the melody should be performed. This new book, and the exhibition it accompanies, presents a fine and rare collection of twenty-four ragamala from the collection of Claudio Moscatelli. They are highly colored, very delicate, and beautifully executed miniatures dating from 1605 to c.1770. The book establishes the importance of ragamala's place in the history of world art and celebrates its literary content, its association with music, and its regional styles, and provides an interpretation of its symbolism in a way that makes it accessible to a contemporary audience.