Ragmala

Ragmala or Ragamala (pronounced rāgmālā), literally means a 'garland of Ragas, or musical melodies'. "Mala" means "garland", while "Raga" is a "musical composition or mode", which has also given rise to the series of Ragamala paintings. This list differs according to the author and the music school it is based upon. Thus there exists a number of such lists in the music text books of India.

Ragmala is also the title of a composition of twelve verses, running into sixty lines that names various ragas which appears in most copies of the Guru Granth Sahib after the compositions of Guru Arjun Dev entitled "Mundaavani" (The Royal Seal). In many of the older copies of the Guru Granth Sahib, Ragmala appears at the end after other compositions which added by various scribes but later deemed unauthorised by Sikh Panth (nation).

Translation of ragmala composition in Sikh scriptures

Background of ragmala and history of Indian music

In the course of the evolution of Indian music, many systems came into effect, prominent among them being the Saiv Mat, said to have been imparted by Lord Shiva, who is accepted as the innovator of music; the Kalinath Mat, also called the Krishan Mat, which has its predominance in Braj and Panjab and is said to have been introduced by Kalinath, a revered teacher of music; the Bharat Mat which has its vogue in Western India and was propounded by Bharat Muni; the Hanuman Mat; the Siddh Sarsut Mat; and the Ragaranava Mat. A large number of ragmalas pertaining to these and other systems that developed are, with some variations, traceable in such well known works on Indian musicology as Gobind Sangeet Sdr, Qanun Mausiki, Budh Parkas Darpan, Sangeet Rinod and Raag Deepak.