Ragas and Raginis: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c10.86

c10.86

a single MS. dated 1778, so that the work may be a few years earlier, say about the 1750 A.D. The work follows a system of six rāgas with five rāgiṇīs each. (See Appendix 3). The descriptive verses are elaborate and not only give a visualized picture of each melody but also its note-structure, and an indication of its appropriate hour of singing. Each verse is followed by a note in Hindī under the title of Sāhitya gūḍhārtha (i.e. implicit rhetorical significance of each melody) in which the nāyikā (the heroine), the nāyaka (the hero) and the rasa (emotive flavour) of each melody are specified, and is accompanied by two or three examples of old songs in which each melody has been appropriately sung.