Mask Art of Assam

Mask art of Assam, Assam has a long tradition of mask making, it developed in the response to Neo–Vaisnavism, initiated by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th century. These masks were developed for it to be used in the Bhaona's (Traditional drama of Assam). The art of making masks was prevalent in Satras for centuries, presently the Samaguri Satra is world-famous for its mask crafts.[1]

Su-Mukha of a demoness

Mukh Mukha as worn by the actor

These masks or (Mukha) are of various kinds like– Mukh mukha (mask covering the face), Bor mukha (mask+costume, covers whole of the body), and Suti Su Mukha (smaller than Bor muka, but more compact) and are made of biodegradable materials such as bamboo, cane, potter's clay (Kumar mati), cow dung, jute fiber, paper cloth etc.[2] It usually takes a period of 10 to 15 days to make one mask and traditionally hengul and haital were used for colouring the masks, but presently due to inavailability of those materials water-colour and chemical dyes are also in use.[3][4] Till recent decades, the masks were stiff and didn't allow the actor to portray any facial expression but innovations brought by Dr. Hemachandra Goswami has changed this. Despite its cultural significance, it is not widely embraced. This art is only prevalent in Upper Assam, especially in Majuli island, and only managed to survive in a plenty of Satras. [5]