ETHNOFLORENCE
INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN
FOLK AND TRIBAL ARTS
June 14, 2022
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THE MASKING TRADITION IN FOLK & TRIBAL INDIA & HIMALAYA
no 22
Each society lives in the present but its roots are in the past and through the tradition the past is connected with the present.
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Dev Shri Bithu Narayan’s Phagli
Thachi Valley Mandi District
The Dev Shri Bithu Narayan’s Phagli it’s a ritual festival celebrated every three years for a period between 7 and 10 days in the different villages of the Thachi valley, in honor of the most important divinity of the place – Dev Shri Bithu Narayan – (whose mask we will talk about later).
© Photo Credit of Thachi the Valley of Gods –
The masks used in this valley, as for similar celebrations in different areas, have a
unique – documented – and well recognizable appearance
important characteristics to be able to discern materials in an ever more precise and scientific way
Dev Shri Bithu Narayan’s mask differs from this general iconographic characterization, as we shall see
© Photo Credit of Thachi the Valley of Gods –
These are masks, for the most part, with a white background, mustaches and beards (often light in color), a crown applied to the forehead of the mask with a polychrome and multi-material character. Strips of red fabric decorate the masks.
We will talk about these iconographic elements later.
© Photo Credit of Thachi The Valley of Gods Dinesh Sharma
From an examination of the photographic material it is immediately evident the high number of masks used in the course of this Faguli.
© Photo Credit of Thachi The Valley of Gods Dinesh Sharma
Old wooden masks, often repainted from festival to festival, are placed side by side with more recent materials during the ritual performance.
© Photo Credit of The Valley of Gods Dinesh Sharma
Wooden dance effigies, sometimes with an obscene character, are exhibited during the performances by some of the masked characters.
© Photo Credit of Paharinati
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Among the masks that do not have a white background, a group of
Monkey / Lord Hanuman masks
stand out
characterized also by long beards and richly decorated crowns.
( in the photo published below are documented two masks that seem to be made recently – probably not in wood.)
Monkey masks are among those leading the procession of masks.
© Photo credit of Thachi the Valley of Gods
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Another mask (danced with another one identic), certainly the most important of the festival, represents the divine character / mask of
Dev Shri Bithu Narayan
© Photo Credit of Thachi The Valley of Gods Dinesh Sharma
Dev Shri Bithu Narayan Mask
© Photo Credit of Thachi The Valley of Gods Dinesh Sharma & Paharinati
© Photo Credit of Thachi The Valley of Gods Dinesh Sharma & Paharinati
© Photo Credit of Thachi The Valley of Gods Dinesh Sharma & Paharinati
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An unique iconographic combination
An animal skin pulled on a wooden frame and decorated in the smooth external part surmounted by a dark red monochrome mask, (together with another similar but gray color) is present and documented.
As with the monkey masks, this mask is also often documented along with those who lead the procession of masks.
© Photo Credit of Thachi The Valley of Gods Dinesh Sharma
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A perforated iconography of the mouth
Going back to examining the iconography of the masks with a white background, which constitute a typical and stylistically uniform corpus, we can see how some of them (we have chosen 3, for example marked by the letters BCD) have a perforated iconography of the mouth – similar to that which found in a mask in Khun’s Phagli, Anni Teshil, Kullu District (Mask A).
Photo credit Updating in Progress
That of the ‘pierced mouths’ is an iconographic feature that we will try to highlight every time it occurs in the different festivals. Rather unusual we can rarely find it even in some Nepalese masks (of which we reproduce below a detail – from our photographic archive).
Back Side of a nepalese mask characterized by a ‘perforated’ mouth – Ethnoflorence Photo Archive Collection
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A mouth with protruding teeth
Similarly to the category of pierced mouth masks, another group of masks instead features a mouth with protruding teeth, making these masks particularly expressive.
© Photo Credit of Paharinati
This iconographic typology opens up interesting iconographic comparisons.
Monochromatic masks with a similar stylistic rendering of the teeth are present in our archive – to be attributed to neighboring areas.
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A crown applied to the top / forehead of the mask
Another characteristic element of these masks is the presence on many of them of a crown applied on the forehead / upper part of the artifact.
Sometimes in fabric, others in cardboard or plastic, these are mobile elements added to the wooden artefact (for older masks) that offer us interesting iconographic elements.
© Photo Credit of Paharinati
From festival to festival, in addition to being repainted, the mask can also have a different crown from that of the previous festival, as in the case documented in the two photos below, in which the same mask is documented with two different crowns (or as in the second case with a repainted crown)
A 1 – A 2
Photo credit Updating in Progress
B 1 – B 2
The movable crown, applied on the mask with metal sticks, has been repainted like the rest of the mask with a white monochrome color (Image B1).
Photo credit Updating in Progress
Strips of red fabric decorate the masks, attached with small sticks ( C 1 & C 2) as well as some of the crowns (C 3)
Photo credit Updating in progress
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THE MASKING TRADITION IN TRIBAL INDIA AND HIMALAYA
22 living traditions explored in the course of this new research program devoted to the masked festivals of the Himalayan region and the Indian subcontinent.
Thachi valley twisted masks – Photo credit updating in progress – © Photo Composition by Ethnoflorence
© Ethnoflorence Photo Archives Collection
A concise and unique methodology.
Valley – Local Museum – Photo credit updating in progress – Photo Composition by Ethnoflorence
© Ethnoflorence Photo Archives Collection – Photo Composition by Ethnoflorence
Hundreds of masks have already been taken into consideration, identified, localized and often explained in their meaning & unique iconography.
Photo Credit updating in progress
The materials are well represented and explained through the visual explanatory photo compositions Ethnoflorence’s style.
Photo credit updating in progress
EXPLORE FROM HERE
General Link
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Explore a selection of the tens of thousands of images contained on the Ethnoflorence site through searching for Ethnoflorence on GOOGLE or / & BING IMAGE
An iconographic evolution of the first issues of Ethnoflorence on the web dated 2008-2010
Etnoflorence selection / search by image – Google & Bing
Etnoflorence selection / search by image – Google
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ETHNOFLORENCE INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN FOLK AND TRIBAL ARTS 