lover dallying with a lady was depicted as Krishna.[84] In _Hindola Raga_,
a mode connected with swinging, a similar result ensued. Swinging in
Indian sentiment was normally associated with the rains and these in turn
evoked 'memory and desire.' The character of the music was therefore
visualized as that of a young prince swinging in the rain--his very
movements symbolizing the act of love. Since Krishna, however, was the
perfect lover, nothing was easier than to portray _Hindola Raga_ as
Krishna himself. _Hindola_ might be invoked in the poem, but it was
Krishna who appeared seated on the swing.[85] An exactly similar process
occurred in the case of _Megh Mallar Raga_. This was connected with the
rainy season, yet because rain and storm were symbolic of sex, _Megh
Mallar_ was portrayed not as a separate figure, but as Krishna once again
dancing in the rain with ladies accompanying him. Even feminine modes of
music suffered the same kind of transformation. _Vasanta Ragini_, 'the
music of springtime,' was normally apostrophized as a lovely lady, yet
because springtime suggested lovers, she was shown in painting as if she
were Krishna dancing with a vase of flowers, holding a wand in his hand or
celebrating the spring fertility festival. The mode, _Pancham Ragini_, was
also feminine in character and was conceived of as a beauty enjoying her
lover's advances. The lady herself was portrayed, yet once again Krishna
was introduced, this time as her lover. In all these cases the celebration
of Krishna was incidental to the main theme and only in one instance--a
Malwa _Rasika Priya_--is there a trace of undisguised adoration. In this
lovely series,[86] Krishna's enchantment is perfectly suggested by the
flowering trees which wave above him, the style acquiring an even more
intense lyricism on account of its divine subject.

During the eighteenth century, painting in Rajasthan became increasingly
secular, even artists of Udaipur devoting themselves almost exclusively to
scenes of court life. The Ranas and the Mewar nobility were depicted