Unmasking the traditions

We had come in late for the Mukha Bhaona performance and rushed to our seats as quickly as possible. This was a rare opportunity as one does not get to see Bhaona, a dance-drama tradition of Assam, easily outside this state. Even within Assam, it is easier to catch a Sattriya performance than Bhaona, especially in Guwahati where we were.

The sutradhar or anchor had just finished his explanation. We watched fascinated as the Mukha Bhaona artistes entered in their glittering costumes, carefully crafted masks, and weapons in their hands. After a brief dialogue, the artistes engaged in sword play.

Bhaona owes its origin to a special genre of plays, created centuries ago by the Vaishnava saint Srimanta Sankardeva and his disciple Madhavdeva. Broadly speaking, it employs Assamese and Brajavali languages and has religious (Vaishnavite) themes and messages. The centre of this art is Majuli Island where you will find the most authentic versions of this theatrical art, as well as maskmakers.

All in the masks

There are many such traditional masked dance performance traditions in our country that fall loosely into the categories of folk art, dance-drama, tribal tradition, warrior-dance traditions, ritual dance and theatrical art. Each dance is an amalgam of many of these elements and has evolved over centuries in the interiors of the country. Masks are an integral part of all these performing arts. Most dances feature highly stylised masks while some use simple ones.

All these are performed to the accompaniment of music, which may be purely instrumental in many cases. Drums are an important component in the music. In most cases, the dances are performed only by certain communities, i.e., a particular caste or religious sect. Also, almost all these arts are male-dominated. Most of the masked dances in India are performed by male artistes only.

It takes some effort to catch a performance as these are only seen in the interior areas of the country and often at designated times like a certain temple or tribal festival, or rural event related to spring, for example. On less frequent occasions, they are seen in metros when the state government and/or a private cultural body takes the initiative to expose the art to a wider, urbanite audience.

Another interesting masked performance from the eastern part of India belongs to the Chhau dance tradition. There are actually two of them ­­— Purulia Chhau and Seraikella Chhau, both named after the areas in West Bengal and Jharkhand from where they originate respectively. And no, the best-known Mayurbhanj Chhau does not use masks, except briefly in the introduction part as I realised some years ago.

Purulia Chhau is more vigorous than Seraikella Chhau. In some ways, this acrobatic dance reminded me of Kalaripayattu, though admittedly they are distinct traditions. The leaps and mid-air pirouettes to rhythmic drum beats make it a fascinating performance. Seraikella Chhau is comparatively more sedate and the masks are simple-looking. Its peacock dance item is my favourite. Interestingly, this has inspired the choreography of many peacock dance numbers in Hindi films, I was told.

I recall seeing a demo of Cham dance in Sikkim. Later, I saw an exhibition of the beautiful, multi-hued, handcrafted masks used in this dance as also several other local traditions. The performers of Cham are Buddhist monks and hence monasteries are the venues. The occasions are festivals. Besides Sikkim, you can also see this art in Jammu and Kashmir in India, as also in Bhutan and Tibet.

Invoking the gods

Karnataka’s Somana Kunitha is still popular in Mysuru, Hassan, Mandya and Tumakuru, i.e., South Karnataka. Predictably, the masks are made of sandalwood. The ritual dance propitiates a grama devatha or village deity. The artiste wears an elaborate and colourful mask (where the eyes are prominent), strings of flowers, and a large skirt. He (it is always a male artiste) is believed to go into a trance as he performs.

Puli Vesham is a fast-disappearing folk art of Andhra Pradesh. Wearing large tiger-face masks and with bodies painted in vibrant yellow and black stripes, these Puli Vesham artistes mimic the movements of the tiger in their dance. They head the procession of Goddess Durga through the streets during Dussehra festival. Similar to this is the Puliyattam of Tamil Nadu and Pulikali of Kerala though one may see painted faces rather than masks and different themes for the dance.

A street-theatre tradition of Tamil Nadu which I first witnessed in Thanjavur — though one can even see it in Chennai — is Therukoothu. Tales from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tamil literature are narrated mostly through songs than dialogue in this popular folk-art.
Kerala’s Padayani is a tribute to Goddess Bhadrakaali, and the dance is performed to appease and calm her. It is associated with the worship of Bhagavathi and Bhadrakali, a fiery form of the goddess, and hence the masks and costumes too are designed to evoke fear. The headgear is enormous and rises very high above the artiste’s head. The entire elaborate costume takes days of preparation.

Arunachal Pradesh, too, has several masked dance traditions like the Khampti performed by tribals. This ‘lion and peacock’ dance, as the name suggests, has artistes dressed as these animals and the movements ape those of the respective animals. There is a Yak dance too, which honours the animal, which is an important part of their daily lives. This costume is large and heavy as is the mask, but the dancer moves with agility and practised ease, something which impressed me and other members of our group. Another fascinating spectacle is the Torgya festival dance, performed by the Buddhists.

Fortunately, the scenario is bright for the masked dance tradition here. Unlike many other folk arts of our country which are languishing without patronage and slowly disappearing, these masked dance/dance/drama traditions — with some exceptions — are flourishing. They are being revived and encouraged by NGOs, private cultural bodies and the respective state governments. The growth of cultural tourism has helped their cause, with more performances being staged, including in metros, even if they are only demos in many instances. Craftsmen are also popularising the art by selling the masks to tourists as collectables even if they are scaled-down versions of the original.