I know that its been pretty late showcasing the now almost sold out Ragamala collection here, but then as they say, better late than never. This Collection was a part of the Chithiram edition 2 and took a huge chunk of my time this year in research.
Even though I hail from a music oriented family, I am not a music buff and certainly knew nothing about Hindustani music when I started on this journey. I turned to a few people for help, but I guess they had better things to do. So I spent a lot of time reading on various ragas, their difference and pictorial references which I later simplified to help me make my pieces. I am by no measure an expert on this topic, but I would like to share with you, a portion of my research and what this collection is all about.
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| Asymmetrical necklace with a Collage of all 6 parent ragas of Ragamala – Bhairav, Deepak, Sri, Malkaus Megh, Hindol on a handcut aluminium base, backed with leather along with crystals wrapped and looped in copper wire |
What is Ragamala?
Ragamala meaning a garland of ragas is a set of 12 verses describing various Hindustani Ragas or musical nodes (Each node comprises of notes sung in a definitive pattern). It details the six principal (male parent) ragas -Bhairav, Deepka, Sri, Malkaus, Megh and Hindola, The Raginis – their 30 wives and Raga putras – their 48 sons. Ragamala paintings are visual descriptions of the raga families and can be found in various art styles such as Pahari, Rajput, Deccanni, Kangra, and Mughal. Mostly miniatures, these paintings represented the nodes (Ragas), by associating them with deities (Krishna for Megh and Shiva for Bhairav), kings and queens or even ordinary men, women and animals that are outstanding in their own right.
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| Ragamala Necklace – Featuring all the six Parent Ragas |
I found many different texts classifying ragas differently, that it was extremely confusing. I read through all of them but in the end, came back to this Wikipedia entry on ragamala paintings with first set me on this path and decided to follow it wholeheartedly.
Ragamala of Chithiram
This line of Chithiram collection – my Ragamala, attempts to take the connect between music, poetry and art one step further by creating adornments that transcends religion, aesthetics, and even time thereby reestablishing the parampara or tradition of storytelling that is filled with rich visuals, good music, strong morals and great creativity. A unique line of jewelry that narrates outstanding tales of India’s Tradition.
Simply put, Ragamala of Chithiram, is a collection of Jewelry personifying the visualisation of music; of Ragas, Raginis & Rajaputras.
Design Process
The most interesting part of the research process was finding paintings that were inspired by these ragas. Most prints were copies or derivatives of works done by masters, yet they were very old and had to be restored which I spent a lot of time on photoshop doing. It was extremely interesting to see how painters from different schools of art approached the same raga. The color combos and dress detailing on the paintings was so fascinating that it made me regret not pursing textile design.
Once I amazed enough prints and sorted through them, I resized them, fit them on readymade bezels, glass tiles or handmade metal bases (designed and made by me). I then decoupaged, glazed or filled them up with resin depending on the base and strung them together with coordinating beads. It was time consuming with each piece requiring constant attention that drove me mad. Photography was even harder as these were glazed shiny pieces. But in the end, everything came together that it was like making a song – setting a tune, writing words, singing and filming it! A fine metaphor considering that the Inspiration was music.
I’ll post details on one family of Raga and the pieces inspired by it every week. Find the first post of the series here, on Bhairav Raga as a part of the octoberfest Autumn celebrations here
I hope you find it interesting
Cheers
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