Red Bandana Adorned Santhali Couple Chau Mask – Small – DSCMs81042

Red Bandana Adorned Santhali Couple Chau Mask – Small, The red bandana and the feathers tucked on give the mask an overall artistic look.  This mask is perfect for your living room or bedroom area.  Dyed with vegetable and floral colors. Made with love by the rural artisans of Bengal.  Red Bandana Adorned Santhali Couple Chau Mask – Small.

A beautiful yellow and pink large crowned Ganesha Chaau Mask, with the beautiful divine face of Goddess Durga. This is a 100% handmade Chaau mask sourced from the heart of Purulia by Sonajuri Arts. This mask is heavily ornamented and applies decorated with a towering crown. The paper and clay mask is made of all-natural eco-friendly ingredients.

 The mask used in the Chhau dance of Purulia is mainly for mythological characters such as Mahishasur-Mardini, Rama-Sita, the fight between Rama and Ravana, etc. Sometimes small Santhal couple masks are used. Mostly made of paper pulp and clay, Chhau masks are often massive in size but not heavy since the performers wear them during the show. The clay molds are first hand-made and dried in the sun known as ‘mati gora’.

They are then layered with powdered ashes. Masks could also represent the shaman’s spiritual helpers, which he would try to influence in times of need. Sometimes hung in houses to ward off harmful spirits, masks were also occasionally placed with the dead or used in non-spiritual contexts for popular entertainment. Chau masks are made from paper pulp, cloth, and clay and undergo many interim processes before taking the final form. First, a clay model of a mask is made and dried in direct sunlight to make it hard. It is then covered with powdered ash and layers of papers moistened with gum are pasted on this powdered mask.