Moon God Holding a Lotus and Riding a Blackbuck within the Face of a Full Moon - Ragamala Series, Basohli c1680

Moon God Holding a Lotus and Riding a Blackbuck within the Face of a Full Moon - Ragamala Series, Basohli c1680

Medium: Gouache on paper
Ragamala (‘Garland of Ragas’) paintings were believed to depict the essential qualities of the ragas or musical modes, which in the Punjab Hills were grouped with their ‘wives’ and ‘sons’ (ragini and ragaputra) in extended series of 84 pictures. Here the mode Chandra (moon), which is performed in the hours after midnight, is shown as the moon god holding a lotus and riding a blackbuck within the face of a full moon.

Source: ashmolean.org/