Answer: Raginis
The six female consorts associated with the male ragas in Ragamala paintings are called raginis.
Ragamala paintings are pictorial interpretations of ragas and raginis. Ragas are traditionally envisioned in divine or human form in romantic or devotional contexts by musicians and poets. Each raga is associated with a specific mood, time of the day and season. Ragamala paintings are arranged in albums invariably containing 36 or 42 folios, organised in the format of families. Each family is headed by a male raga, having six female consorts called raginis. The six main ragas are Bhairava, Malkos, Hindol, Dipak, Megha and Shri. |
