AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A RAGAMALA SERIES: THE BHAIRAVI RAGINI OF BHAIRAVA RAGA
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, North-Western India, ca. late 18th - early 19th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold and silver on paper, the vertical-format composition depicting a female devotee in the centre worshipping a Shaiva linga-yoni shrine covered in floral garlands, in front of her a white bull, perhaps a visual reminder of Nandi, Shiva's vahana (vehicle), behind the devotee three standing female musicians accompanying her prayers and devotional chanting, at the top two lines of silver Devanagari script against a burgundy red ground, set within black and white rules, and ochre yellow and bright red borders, the reverse plain except for later-added annotation in pencil, 25cm x 17.3cm.