- Ragamala Paintings are a series of illustrative paintings from medieval India based on Ragamala or the ‘Garland of Ragas’, depicting various Indian musical Ragas.
- They stand as a classical example of the amalgamation of art, poetry and classical music in medieval India.
- Ragamala paintings were created in most Indian schools of painting, starting in the 16th and 17th centuries, and are today named accordingly, as Pahari Ragamala, Rajasthan or Rajput Ragamala, Deccan Ragamala, and Mughal Ragamala.
- In these paintings, each raga is personified by a colour describing the story of a hero and heroine (nayaka and nayika) in a particular mood.
- It also elucidates the season and the time of day and night in which a particular raga is to be sung.
- Moreover, many paintings also demarcate the specific Hindu deities attached with the raga, like Bhairava or Bhairavi to Shiva, Sri to Devi etc.
- The six principal ragas present in the Ragamala are Bhairava, Deepak, Sri, Malkaush, Megha and Hindola.