THE MASKING TRADITION IN TRIBAL INDIA AND HIMALAYA no 2
Each society lives in the present but its roots are in the past and through the tradition the past is connected with the present.
Masks of the
UTTARARAKHAND
A LIVING TRADITION
Chapter Two
(A)
Bikhoti (बिखोती)
Bhotiya Ritual Dance Mask Festival of Lata village
Bikhoti (बिखोती) Festival – Lata Village – Photo Credit of Mountain Shepherds
&
(B)
Sitoon Festival of Lata Village
Photo Credit of Vijay Butola
Enactment of Lord Rama’s exile for 14 years
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An Explicated Iconography
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(A)
The Village of Lata is the gateway to the Nanda Devi National Park in the Chamoli District , Uttarakhand
This festival – locally referred to as Bikhoti (बिखोती) is celebrated annually in the month of Baisakh in the village of Lata.
Nanda Devi Temple – Cartridge sheet Graphite – sketch by Dev Bharti Dehradun
The term is analogous to a similar one, that refer to a post harvest festival celebrated every year in the month of April in India called Vaisakhi but also known as Baisakhi, Vaishakhi or Vasakhi.
Bikhoti (बिखोती) Festival – Lata Village – Photo Credit of Mountain Shepherds
Bikhoti festivals are held in several villages of the Malla Painkhanda Chamoli region; in Saloor Dungra (Chapter III) the Baisakhi is dedicated to the patron deity of the village Bhumyal Devta and celebrated as Ramman festival; while in Baragaon, Subhain and Suki village the festival is still held annually, despite the loss of the oldest traditional materials.
It should be emphasized that up to 2005 it was totally forbidden to document this festival with cameras, now with the spread of technology and mobile phones, similarly to other areas of the Himalayan region – the images of these traditional festivals are starting to spread – providing a lot of information about these centuries-old cultural traditions – totally unknown until a few years ago in their details.
in which the households present buck wheat to the Goddess Nanda Devi
Bikhoti (बिखोती) Festival – Lata Village – Photo Credit of Mountain Shepherds
The Lata’s festival is a 10 days ritual ceremony that represents the indigenous version of the genesis of the cosmos through the masked dance theater – a non stop performance and various episodes performed with different masks – it begins by bringing the goddess Nanda Devi to the center of the village.
Polychromatic in the crown section – this Ganesh mask – is characterized by the dark color of the facial part.
The stylistic rendering of the trunk balanced with respect to the rest of the elements of the face – is a typical and distinctive feature of the masks of the area.
Note how the vivid yellow & red colors of the crown are combined with the similar color scheme of the dancer’s costume.
Sindur and white rice – are used as ritual decoration of the forehead (sindur) and face characters (rice)
Large dark mask decorated with polychrome color – sindur and white rice – used as ritual decoration of the forehead (sindur) face characters and crown (rice)
Bikhoti (बिखोती) Festival – Lata Village – Photo Credit of Mountain Shepherds
Latu and Laati entertain the audience – they are a couple, and the dog in the play represents their child –
Latu Mask –
Mask of Latu – wood with natural patina and traces of light (white ) color and sindor on the forehead – it’s characterized by prominent and well balanced frontal masses. The stylistic rendering of the eyes is interesting – typical of more classical and elaborate materials of the Himalayan region.
Laati Mask
Laati’s mask – dark patinated wood with traces of sacrificial materials on the forehead – it’s characterized by an archaic naturalistic style and well-balanced masses of the face. Part of a similar group of masks used during the festival.
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– मोर Peacock Episode –
Bikhoti (बिखोती) Festival – Lata Village – Photo Credit of Mountain Shepherds
Flat mask in natural patinated wood – the sculpted features of the face are outlined in light (white) color. The stylistic rendering of the mask is well balanced and symmetrical
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-Feline Mask-
Bikhoti (बिखोती) Festival – Lata Village – Photo Credit of Mountain Shepherds
Zoomorphic feline mask – naturalistic rendering – natural patinated wood – decorated with sindur and rice (in the eye globes – photo above).
Bikhoti (बिखोती) Festival – Lata Village – Photo Credit of Mountain Shepherds
The episode of Narad Rishi is related to the genesis or how the world was formed.
Mask crowned in wood with a dark chromatic base – the details of the face are accentuated by the ritual use of rice (white) which stands out in contrast to the dark background.
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The method of fixing the masks to the face – facilitated by bandages and ropes housed in the holes on the mask – it’s also characterized by an additional support bandage at the base of the chin of almost all the masks reproduced in this article.
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(B)
Sitoon Festival
Eenactment of Lord Rama’s exile
for 14 years
Photo Credit of Vijay Butola
Every 14 years
in the Lata village is performed the reenactment of Rama’s Vanvaas by creating wooden idols that are put in a cave to symbolize Vanvaas.
Photo Credit of Vijay Butola
Traditional Bhotiya ritual dance during the Sitoon festival at Lata
Photo Credit of Vijay Butola
Note the extremely minimal and archaic character of these sculptures – materials of this kind – once (if) decontextualized can be attributed to different cultural areas and totally wrong meanings.
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Chapter III
Saloor Dungra Village Ramman Festival
रम्माण :- विरासत उत्तराखंड की
Painkhanda Valley – Chamoli district –
Uttarakhand India
Coming Soon
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Chapter One –
Hill Jatra Masks in Pithoragarh
An extensive documentation relating to the different masked characters of the festival – with explanations on the iconographies and comparisons with similar materials from the Himalayan region.
HillJatra Mask’s character Lakhiabhoot Lakhiya Gost Character – लखिया भूत & Indra Jatra Mask’s characher Majipa Lakhey – Majipa Lakhey is a special lakhey in Nepalese folklore, also known as the Peaceful Bhairava (शान्त भैरव) – it’s dance takes place only in the week of the full moon of the month of Yenlaa of the Nepal Sambat calendar.
Photo Credit of Rohit Maharjan Lakhiyabhut (on the right) Photo credit (on the left) Updating in progress
Every year in late April, the twin villages of Saloor-Dungra in the state of Uttarakhand (northern India) are marked by Ramman, a religious festival in honour of the tutelary god, Bhumiyal Devta, a local divinity whose temple houses most of the festivities. This event is made up of highly complex rituals: the recitation of a version of the epic of Rama and various legends, and the performance of songs and masked dances. The festival is organized by villagers, and each caste and occupational group has a distinct role. For example, youth and the elders perform, the Brahmans lead the prayers and perform the rituals, and the Bhandaris representing locals of the Kshatriya caste are alone entitled to wear one of the most sacred masks, that of the half-man, half-lion Hindu deity, Narasimha. The family that hosts Bhumiyal Devta during the year must adhere to a strict daily routine. Combining theatre, music, historical reconstructions, and traditional oral and written tales, the Ramman is a multiform cultural event that reflects the environmental, spiritual and cultural concept of the community, recounting its founding myths and strengthening its sense of self-worth. In order to ensure that it remains viable, the communitys priorities are to promote its transmission and to obtain its recognition beyond the geographical area in which it is practised.
folk interpretation of a more classical iconography
Lot 296
9.000 / 12.000 usd
sold for
6.000 usd
Provenance: Lawrence Hultberg
NY
I think that the publicationof masksrecentlysold orpassedon auctionisparticularlyinterestingto understand theorientationof the tastecompared to anuniverse, the one of the so called masksofIndia andthe Himalayas, as richand varied from aniconographic point of viewasprofoundlyunknown.
Photo credit of
The Cobbs Auctioneers
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*
(II)
FOLK
INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN
MASKS
AN HIDDEN HERITAGE
Ramman:
religious festival
and ritual theatre of the
Garhwal
Photo credit of
UNESCO
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*
(III)
HIMALAYAN ARTS EXHIBITION OF THE PAST
“Le Nove Porte: sciamanesimo e arte contemporanea”.
Roma Sala Santa Rita 4 novembre – 1 dicembre 2011.
An extraordinarymultimedia exhibition– conceived byRomanoMastromattei, Italiananthropologistwho died in2010 –posing adirectcomparisonbelonging to the expression of the archaicshamanic religionswiththe activity of somecontemporary artists.
The titleof the initiative,“The nine doors,”was directly inspired byAsianmythologyshaman.
As recalled byMartinoNicoletti: “Ninepeople are thedangerousstepsthat the shamanmust be able tounseal duringhisecstatic journeyinto the cosmos. NarrowNinesymbolicthresholdsto be crossedto reach themost remoteregionsof theunderworldorthe highestof the heavens, in order to confront,face to facewith the divine. “
The exhibition was curated byBruno Cora’(art critic, Burri Foundation), by MartinoNicoletti(ethnologist andartist of theUniversity of theWestof Scotland, UK), byOrfeoPagnani(art director, ExòrmaEditions, Rome)
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(IV)
SHAMANIC COMPOSITION
Photo courtesy of
Tishenko Gallery
*
(V)
PARIS TRIBAL 2014
INDIAN HERITAGE GALERY
Photo courtesy of Sanza Arts Premiers
& David Van Der Elst courtesy of Indian Heritage gallery
Every year in late April, the twin villages of Saloor-Dungra in the state of Uttarakhand (northern India) are marked by Ramman, a religious festival in honour of the tutelary god, Bhumiyal Devta, a local divinity whose temple houses most of the festivities.
This event is made up of highly complex rituals: the recitation of a version of the epic of Rama and various legends, and the performance of songs and masked dances. The festival is organized by villagers, and each caste and occupational group has a distinct role.
For example, youth and the elders perform, the Brahmans lead the prayers and perform the rituals, and the Bhandaris representing locals of the Kshatriya caste are alone entitled to wear one of the most sacred masks, that of the half-man, half-lion Hindu deity, Narasimha.
The family that hosts Bhumiyal Devta during the year must adhere to a strict daily routine. Combining theatre, music, historical reconstructions, and traditional oral and written tales, the Ramman is a multiform cultural event that reflects the environmental, spiritual and cultural concept of the community, recounting its founding myths and strengthening its sense of self-worth. In order to ensure that it remains viable, the communitys priorities are to promote its transmission and to obtain its recognition beyond the geographical area in which it is practised.
I have seen and collected in the years a wide number of Himalayan crowned masks, the style of which is always different and peculiar . Another never explored field of Himalayan art.
Photo Ethnoflorence – Extract from Our Photo Archives
Photo Ethnoflorence – Extract from Our Photo Archives
Photo Ethnoflorence – Extract from Our Photo Archives
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(6)
NEPALESE SHAMANIC RITUAL DAGGER
PHURBU COMINS SOON
Photo Ethnoflorence – Extract from Our Photo Archives
Photo Ethnoflorence – Extract from Our Photo Archives
Photo Ethnoflorence – Extract from Our Photo Archives
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(7)
RAMMAN
Religious Masked festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India, coming soon.
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ETHNOFLORENCE INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN FOLK AND TRIBAL ARTS 
