Ragini Todi

The painting belongs to a set of the dispersed popular Mughal Ragamala dated 1605 CE. The paintings of Ragini Todi are generally interpreted as a lady attracting the deer with her music. In Persian, the term todi means to separate. Ragini Todi is also considered a raga of profound sorrow as is explained by the musicians.

In the Sangitadamodara, a 15th–16th century text on music, the dhyana of the musical mode Todi reads: “Todi is (lady) whose eyes are as charming as the full-blown lotus, who is beautiful like a garland of blue lotus blossoms, who approaches (presents) a young antelope with a shoot of rice.”