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Ragamala paintings have a special significance in the world
of art, which has not so far been fully realized. They not
only display their own technique and art of colour and line
but express, interpret and exhibit the soul/spirit and beauty
of another art, the art of music, the art of svara-laya
and cultivated/cultured voice.
Music was considered to be of divine origin and was
supposed to possess the property of evoking an ecstatic state
of mind or mood, called rasa-anubhuti, in the musician
as well as the listener. This conception of rasa is the
basis of all art in India. The Sadhakas (practitioners)
of music devised some formulas in order to capture and
comprehend the divine quality of music and to evoke rasa or
brahmananda. These were formulated in the form of prayers
in which the conceptual form, dhyana-murti, of the raga
was described. Thus the ragas were personified or deified.
This fact provided a rich and expressive theme to Indian
painters and it has considerably enriched the art treasure of
India.
Whether the dhyana-theory of ragas is scientific or
otherwise it certainly furnished a rich source of theme for
the Indian artists who painted some of the most charming and
inspiring pictures representing the ragas (melodies). The two
Ragamala MSS discovered in a Manuscripts collection at
Jammu are a part of the extensive art treasure created all
over India during the period from 16th to 19th centuries. The
Jammu Ragamala paintings were done expressly with the
usual object of depicting their dhyana-murtisor icons
in order to create the relevant rasa situation in those
looking at them. According to Dr. Charak, the analyzer of
these sets, it is the background setting, the dhyana of the
raga and mood of the nayikas or nayakas which animate
the whole composition by providing scope for picturesqueness,
fascinating use of colour, contours and the charm of variety
and vigour, which are the chief features of the Jammu
Ragamala paintings.
M. A. (History), M. A. (Political Science), Ph. D., D. Lit.
(V. U. S.), Adeeb Fazil and a keen student of history, culture
and art Dr. Charak has to his credit a large number of books
on history and culture, including 8 volumes on History and
Culture of Himalayan States, 2 annotated English
translations of Persian historical works Gulabnama and
Rajadarshani, Life and Times of Maharaja Ranbir Singh, A Short
History of Jammu Raj, Indian Conquest of Himalayan
Territories, Gen. Zorawar Singh (published by Govt. of
India), and several others in addition to over 50 research
papers. His studies in Pahari art for over 20 years have
culmination in the book Pahari Styles of Indian Murals, which
is introductory volume on the forthcoming comprehensive
analysis of Documented Photo-preservation of Jammu Wall
Paintings on which project he worked for five years as
Emeritus Fellow of Jammu University. Also he was Senior Fellow
of ICHR from 1977 to 1980. He has retired as Reader in
Medieval History and Culture. Dr. Charak is a man of many
parts and a thoughtful Urdu poet. His two collections of Urdu
poetry, Abrobar and Saraktey Saey, have been published.
His bio-data figures in many biographies, including Biography
International, Reference India and Sahitya Akademi's Who's Who
of Indan Writers.
Contents
|
Foreword |
7 |
|
Preface |
15 |
|
List of Illustrations |
17 |
| 1 |
Raga, Rasa and Painting |
21 |
| 2 |
Evolution of Ragas and Ragamalas |
31 |
| 3 |
Iconography of Ragas |
40 |
| 4 |
Jammu Ragamala Sets |
54 |
|
Bibliography |
74 |
|
Index |
77 |
