Deccani painting; 'Asavari Ragini' snake charmer, Hyderabad, late 18th century.

The beautiful Asavari, a girl of the Bhil tribe, is clad in a peacock-feathered skirt surrounded by numerous serpents. She is seated stroking a snake, contact with the cooling trunk of the snake relieves the passion she feels for her lover. Snakes approach her as she entices them from the sandalwood trees. This ragamala illustration depicts the iconography of the musical mode 'Asavari Ragini', typcially shown with a tribal woman among snakes. Asavari is the name drawn from the ancient tribe of the Savaras, believed to be snake charmers.

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