Marvellous masks

When your columnist started his career in the civil service as an Assistant Magistrate in Puruliya, way back in the summer of 1986, the main concern of the district administration was addressing the issue of endemic poverty, malnutrition, leprosy and lack of access to safe drinking water. It was one of the poorest districts in the country, and although the Chhau dance was performed with much fanfare when VVIPs visited the district, let me be candid in admitting that preserving it, or showcasing it globally was certainly not on the agenda of the district administration or the state government, or for that matter, any political party or civil society organisation. I do not recall Chhau figuring in my District Experience-sharing report at the Academy.

UNESCO acknowledges Chhau

Three decades later, as the Additional Chief Secretary of West Bengal for Industrial Development, I was back in the district, reviewing the progress of an integrated manufacturing and industrial cluster over 2,600 acres under the Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor in the Raghunathpur block. But the buzz and excitement in the district was about the application made to the GI registry for the Geographical Indicator for the Chhau mask, and it was heart-warming to see how meticulously the presentation had been made to get this recognition. Of course, a fair share of the credit must go to the landmark event of 2010 when the Chhau dance form was recognised and inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO and an MoU was signed with them in 2013 to preserve and popularise both the dance form and the masks that were integral to its performance. Since then, there has been a renewed attention to this dance, its transmission, and its role at the village level.

The origins of Chhau

Chhau, a ritualistic folk dance usually performed by men, is characterised by large and colourful masks and elaborate costumes depicting mythological characters from religious texts including Ramayana and Mahabharata, besides Vedic and Pauaranic folklore. The physical geography of Purulia, with its thick forests and hills, helped local people (Kurmi, Kumhar, Rajwar, Ghatoal, Mal Mahali, Bhumij, Dom, Kamar, and Bagdi) and tribal communities (Santhal, Munda, Orao, Ho, Kharia, and Birhor) to shape their culture without much external influence for years. Some scholars have argued that the mock combat techniques of Chhau have links to chhauni (military camps), besides chhauka (the quality of attacking stealthily) and chhauri (armour). David Reck has suggested that the word Chhau derives from the Sanskrit word 'chhayi' (shadow, image, or illusion) because of the use of masks in some forms of Chhau dance. These days Chhau dance has become an integral part of the social life and the gender barrier has been breached with girls being encouraged to learn an associated dance form called 'karam' in the temple compounds and community halls of Baghmundi block.

Chhau Masks are made by the artists from the Sutradhar community. The making of a mask is an elaborate process. Eight to ten layers of soft paper, immersed in diluted glue, are pasted one after another on the mould before it is dusted with fine ash powder. The facial features are made of clay. A special layer of mud and cloth is applied, and the mask is then sun-dried and polished. After another round of exposure to the sun, the layers of cloth and paper are removed from the mould after which holes are drilled for the eyes and the nose. Finally, the mask is delicately coloured and decorated for the role envisaged for the performer.

The Gomira Mask

Along with the Chhau masks of Purulia, the Gomira mask of North Dinajpur district also received the GI tag in that same year. Here too, the mask is intrinsic to the dance form but what makes it different and distinct from Chhau is that they are made from fine wood, unlike the paper pulp masks of Chhau.

Traditionally, these masks were used in a form of rural dance performed by villagers to please the gods to usher in the 'good forces' and ward off the 'evil forces'. Villagers believe the word Gomira has been derived from the colloquial form 'Gram-Chandi', or the female deity who protects the village. 'Gomira' might have been derived from 'Gamar', the wood that is mainly used to make the masks. The Gomira masks or 'Mukha' are thus inexorably linked with the Gomira dance festival. The Gomira mask makers worship Adi-Shakti or the primordial energy. Thus, worship of the female goddess or the primal power is established.

The process of mask-making is pretty complex. It all begins with wood from freshly felled trees. Each wooden block needs to have a configuration of 50 centimetres (cm) in length and a circumference of 90 cm. The block is then bifurcated into two. The facial details are carved out on the exterior rough side of the wood. Ears, nose, teeth are sculpted deftly using chisels, gouges and knives of different sizes and shapes. After completion, three small holes are made for tying the mask — two on both sides next to the ears and one on top of the mask. Those used by performers have carved eyes and noses to enable them to see during their act. After carving is completed, the surface is smoothened with sandpaper and coloured with oil paints

The wood-crafted Gomira masks represent the two forms of the divine dance – the Gomira and the Ram Vanvas. In Gomira mask dance, Mahiraban is a mythical character in the epic Ramayana. Mahiraban is said to be the brother of Ravan — the Lanka king who kidnaps the two brothers Rama and Laxman to the Patal Lok, from where they are rescued by Hanuman taking the form of Panchmukhi Hanuman (five headed hanuman). The tri-headed wooden mask is made to represent Mahiraban.

Traditionally, the dance starts with the entry of two characters, Buro-Buri (the elderly male and female), who are actually said to be the human forms of Shiva and Parvati. After their performance, other masked dancers enter and the gods take human shape, to fight the forces of evil and establish a righteous way of life. There are no vocal or oral parts in the dance and hence the beating of the dhaks and Kantar along with the masks primarily depict the story. That's why the expression on the masks become so important. The dancers who especially put on bigger masks often go into trance, supplementing the beliefs of the villagers; they have to be restrained by sprinkling water from the local pond.

Thanks to the recognition by GI registry and UNESCO, performing artists of these two genres are now being invited across the globe, and masks were being retailed in the high-end Biswa Bangla showrooms at airports, malls, and high streets in major metros, besides many online websites. Needless to say, this has not only added to the economic prosperity, but also social acknowledgement and cultural recognition of the artists and their crafts.

Views expressed are personal