Ragas and Raginis: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c9.20

c9.20

These dhyāna-formulas in the shape of Sanskrit verses and quatrains represent the devatā-maya-rūpa, the image-forms of the rāgas and rāgiṇīs. They are the sources and the bases of all pictorial representations of the Indian melodies—the well-known ‘Rāga-mālā’ pictures. In these verbal descriptions—the essential character,—the spirit,—the rasa,—the emotional objective of each rāga, or rāgiṇī is indicated. Very often symbolistic details of the colour of the dress,¹ the nature of the complexion of the dramatis