Todi Ragini

M. V. Dhurandhar made this work when religious subjects were popular among painters of the Bombay Presidency. They were encouraged by their patrons to render images of temples, pilgrimage spots, and even altars within their homes, as depicted in this watercolour. It shows a woman praying to Lord Krishna, her stance of folded hands suggesting she is singing a bhajan (a devotional song). The title of the work, Todi Ragini, establishes music as the central theme of the work—ragini referring to the feminine attribution of raag or melodic mode in Indian classical music, an example of which is Todi.