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India: 'Khambhavati Ragini'. From an album or muraqqa' compiled in the Deccan in the late 19th century CE

India: 'Khambhavati Ragini'. From an album or muraqqa' compiled in the Deccan in the late 19th century CE

A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.

A raga uses a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is constructed. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. In the Indian musical tradition, rāgas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons.

Rāginī (Devanagari: रागिनी) is a term for the 'feminine' counterpart or 'wife' to a rāga. The rāga-rāgini scheme dates from about the 14th century and aligns 6 'male' rāgas with 6 'wives'.

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