The changing colours of Ragamala

Dr Karunamaya Goswami

The display of a few reprints of the miniature Ragamala paintings and a splendid keynote presentation on it with a slide show by Dr Karunamaya Goswami, captivated the audience at the Indian Cultural Centre on June 3. Organised by the High Commission of India, the programme also featured a classical soiree by Kalpana Bhattacharya.

"Rabindranath Tagore on many occasions pointed out to one of the basic traits of the Indian mind--as what philosophers would term as a continuous move from form to formlessness and then again from formlessness to form. This observation proves to be amazingly true when we view Ragamala paintings, which are visual interpretations of the ragas commonly inherited by the Indian classical music genres: Hindustani (Northern) and Carnatic (Southern)," said Karunamaya Goswami.

In Ragamala paintings sounds are interpreted through shapes. As Goswami explained, "Painting schools to interpret sounds on canvas in colours developed in India over several hundred years." Goswami used the terms ragachitra, and raga icon interchangeably with Ragamala in an amazing attempt at fusing a fine art with performing arts.

Entranced by the lure of Ragamala paintings Goswami said, "This is almost a cosmos in miniature. When you look into it you have the sensation of penetrating into the cosmos.

"The earliest extant Ragamala paintings which are illustrations in a palm-leaf manuscript of the Kalpasutra are found in the Jain tradition. The Ragamala painting genre flourished in different regions in India. Although most of the paintings are largely drawn from the Radha-Krishna story, they have also absorbed all the traditions from Hinduism, Islam, Jainism and others and developed a secular entity. Ragamala paintings are unique works of art in the sense that they are visualisations of auditory art which continuously flourished in different schools over 500 years, such as Moghul, Rajput, Kangra, Murshidabad, Bijapur and others.

"Today this genre of art enjoys the status of glorious World Heritage Property. Great care should be taken about their preservation."

After the discussion, Agra-Atrauli gharana singer Kalpana Bhattacharya rendered a few ragas with her stylised voice. Started with a Bandish on Bhairav depicting the devotion towards God, she also performed a few other ragas such as Ramkeli, Gunkeli, Ashavari, Dhaneshri and others. With the rendition of each song, the related paintings were projected on the back-screen, making this art more comprehensible to the audience.

Above all, the audience was charmed by the unique presentation of the programme.