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Kausa Ragaputra of Malkos, from a Ragamala

c. 1750

Medium: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Classification: Painting
Dimensions: Image: 18 x 14.8 cm (7 1/16 x 5 13/16 in.); Paper: 22.4 x 18.7 cm (8 13/16 x 7 3/8 in.)
Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Credit line: Gift of Natesan Galleries, Ltd., London
Rights: Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed

About this work

A courtly couple holding tame hunting birds projects a mood of romance and a connection with nature. The Pahari region of the northwest Himalayas was famous for its native hunting birds that were prized among the nobility throughout South Asia.

Kausa Ragaputra is also the name of a mode, or key, in classical Indian music. Improvised pieces of music played in this mode accord with the imagery. This painting is part of a set showing scenes associated with how a listener feels when hearing corresponding musical performances. The whole set is called a Ragamala, or “garland of melodies.”