AN ILLUSTRATED LOOSE INDIAN ALBUM FOLIO: DEVAGANDHARI RAGINI AND POETRY
PROPERTY FROM A CANADIAN COLLECTION
Provincial Mughal School, possibly Delhi or Awadh (Oudh), Northern India, 18th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the illustrated verso of the album folio depicting an Indian maiden holding her hands in prayer, kneeling in front of an ascetic holding a rudraksha mala rosary bead necklace, seated on a tiger skin, in front of a simple hut with sloping roof, the top inscribed in gold ink Urdu 'Ragini ... Wafat (?)' and other faded words in the centre and upper left corner, the illustration set within concentric polychrome rules and finely illuminated borders with gold rosette scrolls on cobalt blue ground and typical Mughal wild flowers on cream ground highlighted in gold; the verso with 8ll. of black ink Urdu nasta'liq script set in red-highlighted cloudbands, the style of the poetry following typical Persian sabk-e Hendi (Indian style) standards, set within polychrome rules and illuminated borders with gold vine scrolls on burgundy ground and gold speckles on cream ground.

32.3cm x 25.5cm

Devagandhari or Deva Gandhara Ragini is another Rajasthani Ragamala mode commonly represented by an ascetic in a retreat. The hermit is often accompanied by a love-struck woman afflicted by the pain of her lover’s estrangement. Paintings like this aim to showcase that the lover's anguish due to separation is akin to the ascetic’s yearning for God, in a typical 'mirroring' image of romantic and mystical love in tune with the Bhakti movement in India and Sufi scripts by the Persian poets 'Attar and Rumi in Iran. Meditation and religious hymns, as well as zhikr, are considered aids to spiritual contemplation but can also provide relief to lovers whose minds are clouded by the pain of separation.