ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing ArtsISSN (Online): 2582-7472
GREAT HERITAGE OF LIVING MASK MAKING TRADITION IN ASSAM: A CASE STUDY ON SRI SRI BOR ALENGI BOGIAI SATRA, TITABOR, JORHAT DISTRICT, ASSAM 1 Assistant
Professor, Department of Visual Arts, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, India
1. INTRODUCTION Mask, primitive piece of human art, could be considered the first instance of art. In the guise of a mask, people are able to conceal their own identity and represent symbolically, humorously, fearfully, and by claiming to be larger than life, etc., certain anthropomorphic, aesthetical beings, although common facial or figurative movements are unable to imitate or communicate those particular characters correctly. Masks usually made of moulding, carving and even weaving which are put on the face or the body. The primary driving force behind mask-making was undoubtedly to satisfy the magical, religious, and theatrical demands of the people. And over time, mask-making rose to prominence as a distinct art form. In India among the various ethnic communities and cultural diversities mask has been taking a vast importance. Mask has regarded as integral part in all the states of India including Assam. Among these masks specifically mentionable use is Chou mask of Purulia, Chou Cheraikella, Bhagavat mela of Tamilnadu, Ramnagar’s Ramleela, Yakshagaan of Karnataka, drama of Kuttiam, Kerala, bamboo strip mask used in the Bhaona/ act play performace at Satra or Vaishnavite monastery in Assam. Since the ancient time, Assam has both used masks extensively. The desire to create masks can be seen in attempts to draw the outline of an ominous item on an earthen pitcher with lime marks next to a pumpkin creeper or on a straw effigy to frighten off birds and insects in a rice field. Among the ethnic communities of both hills and plain areas eastern Indian continents significant mask making tradition has been still exist in Assam, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim since ancient time in specific among Monpa, Rava, Assamese communities in whole North Eastern India. The Bhakti movement started by Srimanta Sankaradeva (1449- 1568) helped to create the Assamese race through songs, plays, musical instruments, Bhaonas, and Nam-Kirtan or preaching songs/ performance among other things to the worship of Lord Vishnu. Eminent art historian Karl Khandelvala wrote as, “…The culmination of art in any area usually depends on some great religious upheaval and this also took place in Assam with the advent of a fervent movement or God-love inspired by the creed of absolute devotion to Vishnu in his incarnation. No account of Assamese art can afford to ignore the spread of this creed by the gospeller saint Sankaradeva.” (Gupta 1982, p. vi) Sankaradeva’s Neo Vaishnavite preaching has been amalgamated with earlier indigenous traditions of this region during his lifetime and later days. One such tradition that eagerly arises to thoughts is still living among some of the Buddhist communities, particularly the Monpas, the Serdukpens and the Bhutyas living north of Assam proper. Painting and wooden mask- making are living traditions with the Monpas and Sherdukpens community who have linked with Tibet and Bhutan. There are reasons to believe that the bamboo split mask- making, wood carving and manuscript painting in Satriya style or monastery origin led by Srimanta Sankaradeva and his followers, has some sort of connections with that earlier style and its technique. (Dutta 1998, p. 22) The dragon-like forms, expressionistic elements of some Satriya/ monastic mask making, wood- carving and also manuscript paintings models and designs speak out in favour of this assumption. The creation of masks has also been elevated to the rank of a unique art form. The novel creation of Sankaradeva to spread his Bhakti dharma, Bhaona, gives the mask a physical form. (Neog 2000, p. 6) Another source of inspiration to artistic activities was the Satra or neo- Vaishnavite monastery initiated by Simanta Sankaradeva during his lifetime which has deep penetration deep into the life of the people since its inception. Worth to mention as Satriya dance of Assam has been confirmed as classical dance among eight dances of India by prime organization Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi on 15th November 2000. 2. OBJECTIVES To study methodically
on both the technical and aesthetics module of mask making traditions in the
context of folk art and crafts of Assam ·
To study mask making tradition in
Assam with reference to Neo Vaishnavite Bhakti movement initiated by Srimanta
Sankaradeva in 15- 16th Century A. D. · To focus the mask making tradition of Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra, Titabor, Jorhat District, Assam 3. METHODOLOGY Both primary and secondary sources are incorporated into the data set. Primary sources include numerous mask-making artefacts, literature by artists who make masks, still images and video, etc. Books, journals, articles, reviews, research papers, literary works, the internet resource, etc. are examples of secondary sources. The study is
qualitative research, and since the secondary sources are not much available
except in the allied archive materials, literature this study is descriptive in
nature. It is based on primary sources like still images, videos of those mask
making tradition and secondary sources of relative literature. 4. INCREDIBLE MASK- MAKING TRADITION IN ASSAM Srimanta Sankaradeva became pioneer a cultural renaissance in Assam during 15-16th Century as his total concern with the life and society of his times. The ‘Satra’ as an institution was the vehicle of his movement, it provided the venue; it provided the venue and atmosphere for religious, social, and artistic activity. A Satra / monastery comprises of Namghara, a Manikuta and hatis. The Namaghara is the assembly prayer hall cum venue for theatrical performance and the Manikuta the sanctum or simhasana of the ‘Satra’ at the extreme end of the namaghara; the hatis are living quarters built for the monks. (Vatsyayan 2007, p. 96) For the purpose of worshiping Lord Vishnu through music, song, dance, and stories from the Bhagavata Purana especially birth, childhood and youth age of Lord Krishna, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata, each Satra or monastery or institution engages in distinctive creative and spiritual forms of expression. In addition to serving as educational institutions, these establishments serve as historical archives for Assam, housing collections of royal and holy artefacts along with antiques, household items, weaponry, and jewellery. The Bhaona and Ankiya Naats or theatres are seen as having a reputational emblem in Majuli's Satras. These dramatic performances, started by the great Srimanta Sankaradeva, had a crucial element: the use of mukha, or masks, which played a crucial part in conflating the spectacular with the theatrical. (Phukan 2010, p.10) As eminent litterateur and critic Hiren Gohain writes, “The Neo-Vaishnava tradition of the 15th century is the foundation of cultural heritage in Assam, which is centred on Satras or religious institutions. This religious movement, which was headed by the saint and social reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva and his disciple Madhavdeva, sparked a cultural renaissance through music and the arts with the establishment of Satras (monastic centres) in Assam. Due to the unceasing work of the Satras of Assam, Vishnu one of the gods worshipped among Hindus in early medieval Assam and his highest incarnation Sri Krishna had been regarded as the supreme deity. Satras are a kind of monasteries where the Guru or the preceptor with his monk-disciples lived, devoting their lives to prayer and works of piety, including practice of devotional music and staging of plays on religious myths. Some of the Satras also specialized in exquisite craftsmanship in bamboo, rattan, ivory, and wood.” (Gohain and Tamuly 2013, p.13) Since 17th Century onwards, Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra
of Jorhat district in Assam, Sri Sri Samaguri Satra, situated at heart in the island of Majuli in Assam, and Si Sri Khatpar Satra near Sibsagar town are distinctive
centres of living mask-making tradition and performance in Assam. (Tamuly
2013, p.2) The Bhakti
movement has deeply influenced many forms of traditional performing arts
prevalent all over country and in Assam it inspired the superb Ankianaat. In fact, all the plays in the
repertoire of this theatre are one act plays and they are called Ankianats. Most of the plays in the repertoire
of Ankia-naat (drama in episode) are based on episodes drawn from mostly
Krishna legend and few from Rama legend
with significant using of various masks. (Goswami
2016, p.13) Three types of
masks, usually made or perform in Rasleela
and Bhaona dramas are Mukh-mukha or face mask, Lotokoi or
spate mask for head and body part and Bor
mukha / big masks or Masks in enormous size. Mukh
Mukha or face masks cover the face for example Brahma, Panchani, Maris,
Subahu, Chakrabat, Upananda and masks of bird and animal as Aghasur, Bakasur,
Dhenukasur etc., Lotokoi masks are a
little larger, head and body parts of this mask are made separately as demon
Putana, Taraka, Sankhachur Yaksha) whereas enormous size. Bor Mukha or Big masks usually comprise of two portions – face and
the upper body of demonic icon as instance Ravana,
King Bana, Kumbh-karna, Mur Danav, Narakasur, Narasimha etc. (Mazinder, 2017, pp.33-43) Some eminent mask-making
artists of three above mentioned Satra
are Gopikanta Mahanta, Rebakanta Mahanta of Khatpar Satra, Rudrakanta Dev Goswami & Hemchandra Goswami of Natun
Samaguri Satra, Majuli and Jadov
Mahanta of Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra. (Lahkar 2016, p.53) 5. GREAT HERITAGE OF SRI SRI BOR ALENGI BOGIAI SATRA AND ITS LIVING
MASK-MAKING TRADITION Sri Sri Bor
Alengi Bogiai Satra was established
in Majuli island (presently Majuli, a district) of river Brahmaputa near Jorhat of Upper Assam, established in
the year 1610 A. D. by its first Satradhikar
or monastery head Bapukrishna Deb.(Mahanta 2011, p.2) Later due to flood erosion of the land of
monastery it was shifted to Melamati, a revenue grazing land in the bank of
Mondal of Kakodonga River, near Dafalating of Titabor, Jorhat District of Upper
Assam in the year 1965-66 by Government of Assam. (Report 2004, p. 5) Since then Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra becomes a major centre of both
practices of living traditions in art, culture, and religion of neo-
Vaishnavite doctrine initiated by Srimanta Sankaradeva. At present Sri. Bapukanta Mahanta is Satradhikar or Head of monastery of Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra. Some name of eminence regarding living, distinctive mask making tradition of the Satra are Nabin Krishna Mahanta, Jadov Mahanta and Akhai Jyoti Mahanta. A particular folk and evocative of mask making of religious character has been made and practice at the Satra in following utmost devotion, perfect iconography, and religious essence. At Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra masks are generally made of locally available materials. These materials are – bamboo, used cloth, locally available colour, cow dung, cane, soil, and cloth. As Jadov Mahanta writes, “actors in concealing own identity, wears mask to express different personality of worldly and strange being. According to the characters there are two types of masks are used in the play as Loukik and Aloukik. Loukik masks are made of normal face mask as various demons, behuwa or buffoon characters. Aloukik masks are made in strange features as example Narasimha, Brahma, Ravana, etc. It has been described about the Aloukik features in the Holy text as, Odvut dekhiya
Daityapati bhoila chupa Nuhi Simha nuhi
etu Manushya Rupa (As seeing strange entity of Lord Vishnu in the guise of Naraasimha Demon king Hiranyakashipur became silent, neither lion nor human being….).”. (Mahanta 2011, p.16) The method of mask making in Assam is very old, though it is complex in execution. First, a star-form lattice or Lakhimi Sutra as similar to traditional bamboo basketry of finely stripped bamboo has been developed to a skeletal framework of whole mask. (Goswami 2016, p.12) After weaving the inner skeleton with bamboo strips then mask is covered with mud lapped cloth and after drying a mixture of cow dung of calf and sticky soil is applied on the cloth-covered mask to give the proper shape of a character. After drying the mask is again covered with another layer of mud lapped cloth and kept in the sunshine to dry. Then masks are given shape using locally available earth, vegetable, and mineral colours source from Hengul or red, Haitaal / yellow, Dhalmati/ white, blue from indigo plant, black from ashes of dried vegetable gourd or smoke of earthen lamp. Hair of mask characters is made of jute. Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
These masks, used in raas-leela or mythical ritual of youth Lord Krishna at Vrindavana and bhaona/ act-play or drama, a primeval form of performance/drama cult in Assam, are the unique skill-based ability of and Khatpar Satra of Sibsagar, Natun Samaguri Satra of Majuli. A distinctive name among Neo Vaishnavite monasteries and followers of Srimanta Sankaradeva, Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra becomes a prime place in the hands of its artists’ communities (Figure 1). Some of ancestors/ monks of the Satra, whose hereditary vocation it is, are in special charge of preparing masks or making painted manuscript of Holy texts and are called Khanikar/ Creators. They engaged ritualistically in studying, learning and later teaching all Holy texts of Vaishnavite religious doctrine, Sankaradeva’s teaching and as well as practices whole heartedly with music, dance, and performances since their childhood. Rass leela of Lord Krishna during November month or Bhaona performance during Srimanta Sankaradeva Birthday and any auspicious day combines harmoniously diverse elements of culture as classical of dances/music, indigenous mixture of Assamese and Vraja boli dialect and dramatic use of expressions, gesture, and masks in the narratives to evoke spirituality among viewers/ performers both. Altogether mixtures of all these, it has a distinct personality of its own, which is unquestionably indigenous origin, coherent and unique. Distinguished Jnanpith awarded poet Prof. Nilmani Phookan praised its unique mask-making tradition as its prospering also keeping intact of its folk vigour over the years in the crafty hands of Late Nabin Krishna Goswami, Nityananda Mahanta, and Jadov Mahanta (Figure 2). Worth to mention that Late Nabin Krishna became celebrity as his creation of masks on Lord Vishnu’s Anantaxayan or Cosmic Sleep of Lord Vishnu in the year 1973 and people came from distant places to purchase his masks for drama performance as instance Soneswar Raas Theatre, Kamrup district as recalled by Jadov Mahanta. As continuing the inheritance and also expert of Satriya singing and dancing since his childhood, Jadov Mahanta learned basic knowledge of mask making from Late Satradhikar Nabin Krishna Goswami and has been associated since then in mask making and its integral decoration during Raas festival and Bhaona/ act play performance. During these festival people from other Satra and drama group from distant places has come to collect his masks from the Satra. Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra’s mask-making tradition consists of Mukha bhaona or drama with masks of various types as instance demon masks (Figure 3), face masks of various character, Brahma face mask (Figure 4), Narsimha (Figure 5) & decorative masks (Figure 6) and also display of masks takes limelight among these and it becomes an industry of making a mask. Keeping in mind the spiritual component, Lord Krishna's Raas Festival narrative takes place inside of its Naam Ghar (prayer hall), with melas (fairs) being organized outside. People visit the Krishna Leela mask play during the Raas festival and also gather miniature masks for modern house décor. Figure 5
Figure 6
6. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra, situated at Melamati, Titabor, Jorhat district of Upper Assam, has a living, distinctive mask making tradition among Satras or Neo Vaishnavite monasteries as Sri Sri Samaguri Satra, situated at heart in the island of Majuli in Assam, and Si Sri Khatpar Satra near Sibsagar town, Assam. A particular folk and evocative of mask making of religious character has been made and practice at the Satra in utmost devotion, family tradition, perfect iconography, and religious essence over the years. It’s also a great example of entrepreneurships and apprentice for younger generation of Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra as their masks are generally made of locally available materials as bamboo, cow dung, cane, soil, and cloth. People from distant places usually come in large numbers to see and collect those masks for performance at their own place and also for home decoration during Raas Festival in November month. 7. CONCLUSION In this way, the research paper examined the history of the Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra as well as the economic, social, cultural, and aesthetic value of masks as a superb inventory of the local masks that are currently on hand. Also, the place has an immense possibility of skill-based craft/ entrepreneurs of indigenous origin and inheritance importance. The artist who creates masks does so in accordance with the canon established by the scriptures, the requirements of the character, and how the artist brings forth the various emotions or bhavas. It is therefore important for the artist to have a complete knowledge of the scriptures. The visualisation is in the discretion of the gifted artist hereditary who is able to bring out the emotion and give the final shape and substance to the mask. Even though the local kids are hesitant to learn this skill because the seasonality of raas theatrical ritual performance is cited as an unsustainable income, smaller portable masks are now being made as ornamental pieces for houses to lend economic value to the craft. Raas festival celebrated in Satras is a massive attraction among tourists. It is held in about two hundred different areas in all over Assam. Raas festivals in Satras are almost 200 years old, organising annually for two or three days during full moon day in the November. It is an auspicious, festive occasion for all inhabitant of Assam to welcome devotees from outside and integrated all communities and people. Research is necessary for the historical, methodical details of nourishing mask making tradition in Assam and the accomplishments of these underappreciated creators. NOTES As seen my interest on folk art heritage in Assam, Prof. Nilmani Phookan informed me regarding on distinctive tradition of this particular Neo Vaishnavite monastery Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra at Melamati, Titabor, Jorhat district, Assam. Since 2008 onwards I have been doing field work at the Satra both collecting primary data as photographs of bamboo masks, detail mask making process, mask making artist’s interview and related literatures as secondary data.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS None. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Prof. Nilmani Phookan, eminent poet and art critic Sri Jadav Mahanta, mask making artist, Sri Sri Bor Alengi Bogiai Satra at Melamati, Titabor, Jorhat district, Assam Tridib Dutta, sculptor, writer/researcher, Jorhat. REFERENCES Dutta, B. (1998). Folk Painting in Assam. Tezpur University, 22. Gohain, H. M., and Tamuly, D. N. (2013). The Blessed Island a Selection of Writing on Majuli Island and the Neo- Vaishnavite Movement in Assam. Programme Production Centre (North- East), Doordarshan, Guwahati (Assam), 13. Goswami, K. (2016). Mukha : Sattriya Mukha Shilpa. Latika Goswami, 12, 13. Gupta, R. D. (1982). Art of Mediaeval Assam. Cosmo Publications. Lahkar, S. (2016). The Art of Mask Making in
Assam, ‘Ahana’, Bilingual Yearly on Art & Culture, Paul, Pramit Parna, ed.
Vol.- VI, Government College of Art & Craft, Agartala, 53. Mahanta, J. (2011). Sri Sri Sanforo Jayati Sri Sri Bor Elengi Bogi Aie Satrar Itidrityo
totha Satra Samuh Mahanta O Bhakta sokolor Bongsholata. Sri Sri Bor Elengi Bogi
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33-43 Neog, M. (2000). ‘Sankaradeva’. National Book Trust, 6. Phukan, B. (2010). “Srimanta Sankaradeva Vaishnava Saint of Assam”. Kaziranga Books, 8. Tamuly, D. N. (2013). Programme Production Centre (North- East), Doordarshan, Guwahati (Assam), 2. Report (2004). Mukha Sadhonat Broti Jadov Mahana, Ajir Asom Newspaper, Guwahati, 5. Vatsyayan, K. (2007). Traditional Indian Theatre Multiple Streams. Natioal Book Trust, First Reprint, 96.
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