How the Craft of Mask Making Transforms a Dancer

Performers pile onto a truck in which they travel, sleep, eat and live when they are touring. Their large onion-shaped drums are find space along with costumes and masks.

As they prepare for a performance, they are watched avidly by an eager public. Drummers proceed in advance to energize crowds and announce the impending event.

Dancers take their places; the drumming and wind instruments announce their arrival.

When masks and headdresses are used many times, and show signs of wearing out, they return to the mask maker’s Purulia workshop to be refurbished and re-used for a few more performances.

A tailor in Purulia stitches or repairs costumes for dancers.

A truck loaded with dancers, instruments, masks, costumes and provisions set off on a long tour where performances will be held in many towns and villages.

Children from the artists' families travel with them to occasionally assist but mostly to have fun.

The Chhau dancer may seem a mere mortal before he dons his mask and headdress, but the process and performance transforms him, into something more.

A Chhau dancer's costume is elaborate, and made of many layers and strips of cloth that need to be tied together.

Many components of the costume of a Chhau dancer are tied on apart from being stitched.

The green room to get ready for a performance is usually just a quiet corner of a village or by the side of a road.

Children gather around to watch the dancers transform themselves.

Mr. Bhawani, the leader of the group (on the left, holding the hand of a child) is the musician. He usually manages their schedules and itineraries.

A dancer is helped in putting on all his regalia, including the multi-armed contraption that depicts him as a divine character.

A Chhau dancer pins his long jute-haired wig into place as he prepares for a performance.

The performance's characters follow the musicians through the fields to the venue.

The sight - of them in their flamboyant costumes - creates a buzz among the village children who look forward to such entertainment.

One of the steps for a Chhau dancer involves twirling full circle in mid-air to rhythmic drum beats, and landing flat on his haunches on to hard ground.

Particularly fascinating for children is the friendly Chhau lion who first pretends to instill terror in the audience.

The goddess, resplendent and powerful with her ten arms, rides on her official vehicle, the lion, as she goes to vanquish her foe, the demon Mahishasura.

Demons vanquished, the Chhau cast of dancers stand to receive applaud from their awe-struck audience.

As they pose for the finale, the members of the audience fill a basket with donations in cash in appreciation for being thoroughly well entertained.

The masks have done their job in transforming each man into a mesmerizing superhuman character.

The handmade Chhau mask along with the headdress is examined by a foreign visitor to India while on a visit to the capital city’s premier crafts market, Dilli Haat.

The Purulia Chhau team in Delhi, with Israeli contemporary dancers, who shared a stage with them at a celebratory event in New Delhi, India.

The goddess slays the demon, as Ganesha - the elephant-headed god - and the faithful lion assist her. This is one of the more popular performances the Chhau dancers present to urban audiences.

Read more about the tradition of Chhau Mask making here:

-The many faces of Purulia masks
-The craft of accessorizing for Chhau dancers