Ragmala paintings or raag dhyan is again a big reason music enthusiasts visit various painting oriented places. If your field is Indian classical music, one must be aware of Ragamala Paintings, which depicted ragas as a human.
Musicology includes an explanation of ragas in short sanskrit verses called ‘Dhyana’ or meditation of 14th century. ‘As stated in ‘Ragatarangini’ by Lochana, these verses highlight the characteristics, nature, mood, tendency of ragas, injecting life into them, providing them a particular persona or swaroopa as in like a deity, nayak or nayika. This led to the rag-ragini systems and the subsequent creation of the ragamala paintings, which is mainly ragas on canvas. The theme or rasa for these paintings are usually shringar (romance), bhakti (devotional) or baal-kreeda (momism). Here are some examples of the paintings on Raga Bhairav and raga Hindol.
Raga Bhairava and Raga Hindol:
However, Ragmala or rag-ragini paddhati has lost its relevance today but it’s still a sheer interested and aesthetically rich topic for the tourists, music lovers, and paintings who frequently visit places like Madhubani, Ellora, Mewar, Dharwad, Mithila etc. to find the live pictures of the ragas especially the ragas which they love or have already learnt.