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The sixteenth-century painting above portrays the evening raag
Kedar. It is typically represented as an ascetic in meditation. Here, a yogic
practitioner holding a veena is visited by a Muslim dervish.*
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The long evening is my favourite part of the day. It’s probably for this reason that I’m always preoccupied with the evening raags in general. And Kedar is an absolute favourite, right after Yaman. It’s just so glamorous! I just can't get over the ma-pa-ma-pa-dha-ma-sa-re-sa bit and just go on singing it under my breath at times. Unlike how it has been portrayed in raagmala paintings, I hardly associate it with any form of austere divine mood. On the contrary it makes my imagination land up in some brightly-dressed evening party, full on chit-chat, snacks and fancy liquor. Kedar is like the elaborately made paan, that rests stylishly inside one cheek and perfumes up the breath of the decked-up host of the soiree. It makes me want to just go on singing Kedar.
PS: Taste this beauty in Kedar by DV Paluskar: Raag Kedar | DV Paluskar
*Detail: Kedar Ragini by Shaykh Hatim; Chunar, Uttar Pradesh, India; Hara dynasty,
reign of Rao Raja Bhoj Singh, 1591; opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
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