Mask Art: A Legacy of Assamese Art

Shilpika Rajguru

 The Majuli district is a river island in Assam, surrounded by the river Brahmaputra. The island is a beautiful landscape CV of nature with land and aquatic flora and fauna, inhabited by different tribal and non-tribal communities. The river island was influenced by the then Vaishnavaite movement of Assam with the establishment of a xatra at Dhuwahat by the saint Shankardeva. The art of mask making has been an exquisite culture of Majuli xatras. Masks are designed to bring out the character being enacted in bhaonas and raas utsavs at Majuli.

The mask-making process is an elaborate process that requires time. It can take as long as two weeks. Since the entire shape of the mask is dependent on the cow-dung mixture, the main concern of the mask makers is involved with the amount of sunlight and warmth available in a day. The entire mask is made on a woven frame of bamboo. As pointed out by the craftsmen, this is the most important step that one should concentrate on while making the mask.

The mukha silpa of Majuli is a traditional art now known at the national as well as international level. The mask made by Dr Hemchandra Goswami, Samaguri Xatra, is now being displayed at the British Museum. Dr Goswami has modified the masks so as to be more interactive with the audience. He redesigned the rigid form of masks into one where jaws can be moved while delivering speech in drama. He has trained different craftsmen at Majuli to make masks of different sizes for commercial purposes. At present, two types of masks are prepared at Samaguri Satra: one is for religious performances and another is for commercial purposes. Prices of these decorative masks range from Rs 500 to several thousands.

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The traditional mukha made in the satras of Majuli are divided into three categories based on their size and structure.

n Su-mukha or Bor mukha

n Lutukai-mukha or Suti mukha

n Mukh mukha

Su-mukha or Bor mukha

Su mukha is the largest among all the masks. It can range from 8 to 10 ft in height. The face and the body of the mask are made separately and are attached to the wearer during the bhaona. Characters such as Ravana and Narasimha are typically adorned with this type of mask.

Lutukai-mukha or Suti mukha

Lutukai mukha looks similar to Su mukha; however, it differs in structure. Lutukai mukha is designed in a way to allow more movement of the hands and head of the mask.

Mukh mukha

Mukh mukha is the face mask. This mask is designed only for the face. Along with the mask, the performer also wears colourful dresses and jewellery for his act.

Functions of the Mask:

The function of masks in human and social life can be highlighted in the following ways:. It has directly and indirectly played an important role in relation to the social and economic status of the society and nation. Masks have played a significant role in different religions and societies. Many masks play different roles at a time. For example, some ancient masks at the same time represent political control, social critics, rituals of crop cultivation, healing, upanayan, recovery from disease, funerals, etc. On some auspicious occasions certain exclusive masks are used. On such occasions, people with masks are considered very special or sacred. These masks are stored very carefully with devotion when these are not in use. These masks are considered a medium that can cure persons from diseases even when they are on the way to their death. On the other hand, different types of masks are used for funerals and their associated works. Mask is also used as a mark of health and good fate. Different types of masks have gained interest in the field of occasion and worship. On the basis of need, different masks are getting priority in religious occasions, social occasions, etc. The major reason behind the development of a mask is self-defence. Different types of masks are used in theatre for playing different characters of historical interest. There is evidence that, in ancient times, the face of a deceased person was covered by some special type of mask which was made up of metals.

Mukha is the oldest folk art that was invented with the development of our civilization and is widely distributed throughout Assam as well as in India. Different people use masks for different purposes; some use them as a medium of recreation, and others use them as a medium for defence or to conceal their identity. But the major use of masks in ancient times is that the people used them as a medium for hunting animals for their survival and occupation. The materials used for the preparation of masks are wood, bamboo, bamboo cane, clothes, cow dung of calves, clay and natural colour. The natural colours used in the masks are hengul, haital, neel, bogamati (white clay) and glue of wood apple, and the black colour is prepared by gathering the smoke of light lamps. On the basis of the characters of mukha-Bhaona (mask theatre), masks are of three types, namely, Murr Mukha or Mukh Mukha, Barr Mukha or Cho Mukha, and Lotokai Mukha or Lotokori Mukha. The mask that covers only the face is known as the Murr mask. During acting time this type of mask is

Preparations of the Mask

The materials used for the preparation of masks are wood, bamboo, bamboo canes, cloth, cow cowdung of calves, clay and natural colour. But in present days the use of wood and natural colour has been greatly reduced. The natural colour uses in the colouring of masks are hengul, haital, Neel, bogamati (white clay) and glue of wood apple. The black colour is prepared by gathering the smoke of a light lamp or by some other means. In present days the cow dung of a calf and kerosene oil are mixed together during mask preparation for the long-lasting of masks.

On the basis of preparation, the masks are mainly of four types, and these processes have been discussed in the following ways.

Masks made up of wood:

For the preparation of wood masks, the soft woods are used. These are usually used for the preparation of the eye, face, nose, ear, etc. The instruments used for the preparation of wood masks are humble: chopper, saw, axe, etc. Due to the weight of the masks that are prepared from the wood, the ‘Bhaoria’ (the actors or actresses that cover their face with masks) are very difficult to use. As a result, the uses of wood to make the masks are lesser than the other type of masks.

Masks made up of clay:

These types of masks are prepared by using moulding made up of wood and then fixing the paper onto them. In this type, the paper is usually used in more than one layer to make the masks strong. After fixing the paper, the masks are dried in the sunlight and then separated from the mould. And in this way the preparation of masks is completed. The other materials used for these types of masks are jute, fibres of banana trees, etc. These types of masks are also lighter in use and thus suitable for the use. Another important characteristic feature of these types of masks is very soft, and thus the ‘Bhaoria’ prefer these types of masks.

Mask made up of bamboo:

Usually the bamboo masks are prepared by covering the strips of bamboo with cow dung or clay. For this, at first the immature bamboos were selected and cut into pieces of 5–6 feet and then dipped into either water or clay for 5–7 days to protect the bamboo from certain destroying agents such as certain insects and for long-lasting durability. Then the bamboo strips joined together into the desired shape of the face. Then the clay collected from different wells was coated over the bamboo strip, and they took it to direct sunlight for drying. When half dry, a mixture of clay and cow dung paste is used to shape the eyes and other features, while the ears are usually made of bamboo pieces, which are then stuck on, and the bark of trees or jute is used for hair, eyebrows and other accessories. After this, the masks were coloured. For this hengul, haital, deep blue, kharimati (boga mati), etc., are used. In early days, cucumber basks were used for the preparation of black colour by burning and then drying the bask of the cucumber. For preparation, other colour leaves of plants, bark, fruits, etc., are severally used. The preparation natural colour is a very long and time-consuming procedure.

 Uses of colour in Mask

The colours of the mask were prepared by using the oldest method; they use elements such as hengul, haital, khari mati or boga mati, and some natural resources of colour, such as ash of calabash, seed of outenga (elephant apple), and glue extracted from wood apple, are used very conventionally from the very beginning. It is a very tough and time-consuming process, and therefore the mask makers prefer to use synthetic colour available in the market at low cost over the conventional method. Red colour is produced from hengul, yellow colour from haital, Kharimati or bogamati gives white colour, neel (indigo) is used for the blue appearance of masks, and black colour is derived from the smoke of lamps and ash of calabash. The egg of a duck is mixed with colour to improve the quality and brightness of the colour that is used in colouring masks.

Nowadays, the previous procedures were replaced by synthetic colours. Glue extracted from the wood apple is not used in place of the synthetic glues. In early days the feathers of pigeons or wool of other animals were fixed with the bamboo strips and used as a colouring brush. The mask art will always live on in the bhaonas, xatras and namghars of Assam. We hope that the state government will help in carrying the heritage through conservation of this one of the resources of Assam. “Mask art” is the pride of Assam, the dignity of the people of Assam. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the people as well as the government have a role to play in preserving this rare resource of Majuli.