Traditional Art

Gomira Dance Mask
Tulip Sinha
Founder, FolkUs Design Interventions, Bangalore

The craft of Gomira dance masks is practiced in a specificarea in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal, in and aroundthe village of Mahisbathan (Khunia Danga) locatedapproximately 50km south-east of Raiganj, the district
headquarter. North Dinajpur district lies in the Gangeticplain.
Origin and Tradition

The Gomira dances
are organized topropitiate the deity
to usher in the 'good
forces' and drive out
the 'evil forces'…

The word Gomira is a colloquial form of the root wordGram-Chandi, a female deity. The Gomira masks are inexorably linked to the Gomira mask
dance prevalent in this area. The exact origins of this craft and the dance are not exactly
traceable and lie somewhere in the hoary past. One of the craftsmen claims it is at least as
old as the beginning of Kaliyug, which does seem unlikely.

Gomira DanceThe Gomira dances are organized to propitiate the deity to usher in the 'good forces' anddrive out the 'evil forces'. It is usually organized within the months of Baisakh-Jyestha-Asarh,corresponding to mid-April to mid-July. There are no fixed dates for organizing these dances,
but each village organizes at least one Gomira dance during this period according to theirconvenience, at a central location.
Another occasion for arranging Gomira dance is during the puja of Amat Kali, whichcoincides with the harvesting of mangoes, usually in the month of Jyestha. Such dances arealso organized during puja of Smasan Kali, which does not have a fixed time.
Chitrolekha International Magazine on Art and Design, Vol. 1, No. 1, April, 2011
URL of the Issue: www.chitrolekha.com/v1n1.php
URL of Gomira Dance Mask: www.chitrolekha.com/V1/n1/01-gomira-dance-mask.pdf
Kolkata, India

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Chitrolekha International Magazine on Art and Design, Vol. 1, No. 1, April, 2011

Amat Kali and Smasan Kali are local deities, closely related to and derived from theGoddess Kali, basically a form of Shakti. The traditions are an amalgam of animist traditions,which have been absorbed in the Shakti cult, with its predominant female deity. The Shakticult is deeply entrenched and every village has its own small temple devoted to Shakti, in her
many forms, as the guardian deity of that village.
Every village of reasonable size, say a thousand inhabitants, has its own Gomira dancetroupe. The dancers usually perform dances during the 'season', to supplement their income,but have other vocations relating to agriculture and business or crafts such as smithy,carpentry. The dancers are all male, without exception, and portray one or may characters,male, female or animal.
The Gomira dances have two distinct forms. One is the Gomira format, which has
characters with strong links to the animist tradition. The characters are Buro-Buri (Old manOld woman), Smasan Kali, Masan Kali, Dakini Bishwal, Signi Bishwal, Bagh (Tiger), Nar-Rakhasand Narsingha Avatar. The other format is the Ram-Vanwas, which derives its charactersfrom Ramayana, with special reference to the Van-Kand. The characters are Ram, Sita,Lakshman, King Dasarath, Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, Sumitra, Angad, Jatayu, Hanuman, Sugriv,Jambavan, Surya-Bhanu (Sun) and Ravana. Some animist characters have also crept in to thisformat - Yamdoot and Kaaldoot! Interestingly, the Ram-Vanwas dance is not linked to any
season and is actually organized year-round, but is more popular during October- November,closely matching the times for Durga Puja and Kali Puja.
Traditionally, the Gomira dance starts with the entry of two characters Buro-Buri, who
are actually the human forms of Shiva and Parvati.

According to the Gomira tradition, these gods took human shape and descended on earthso that they may bless the humans and help them to fight the forces of evil and establish arighteous way of life. They appear in the dreams of people and remind them to worship
Gomira and lead a righteous life. In the dance proper, they dance to the accompaniment ofDhak (percussion drum ethnic to rural Bengal) and Kansar (bell-metal disk used as cymbal).
After the initial round of dancing, characters are called on to the arena or stage. The last andperhaps the most powerful character is Narsingha-Avatar, symbolically showing the ultimate
triumph of good over evil.
The interesting aspect is that the total absence of any vocal or oral part in the dance.
There are no songs or chants. The dancers choose their own movements, which include

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Traditional Art: Gomira Dance Mask

gyrations and hops. An interesting feature of these dance performances are the trances,
probably due to autosuggestion. Some particular members of the troupe are entrusted withthe job of restraining the member in the frenzy and breaking the trance by sprinkling water
consecrated with tulsi leaves and white togore flowers.
Gomira Masks
Villagers pledge a certain type and number of masks to their favoured deity when they put
forward a wish to be fulfilled. Thus the craft of Gomira mask-making, in its pristine form,catered to the needs of the dancers and any villager wishing to give a mask as an offering tothe village deity. A villager makes a 'promise'- called 'manat', to offer a mask to a deity if hisor her wish is fulfilled.
The wood crafted Gomira masks represent the characters of the two distinct forms ofdance – the Gomira and the Ram-Vanwas. Most Gomira face masks have subsidiary characters
crafted along the periphery of the main character. So, the mask is a composite of a principalcharacter, surrounded by the subsidiary characters, both of which always have a mythical link
between them. For example, the character of Dasarath always accompanies the mask ofJatayu. This can be seen in the fourth photograph; on the left Jatayu carries a middle-aged
Dasrath on his head while on the right a young Dasarath. The friendship of Jatayu with King
Dasarath is well documented in Ramayana.
Masks from Ram-Vanwas pantheon are not given to deities as offering.

Photograph 1 above depicts Jambuban (L) and Hanuman (R). The vivid colours are due tothe use of modern enamel paints.
Photograph 2 has two characters, Hanuman (L), with the subsidiary character, seated hishead, which is Adyashakti (Tilottama). The mask on the right is that of Naro-rakhsha with
two incarnations of Kali- Smasan Kali and Masan Kali on his earlobes.
Photograph 3 shows three unpainted masks,from the left, Bishal, Hanuman and Signi
Bishal. In this mask of Hanuman, the subsidiary character Bhanu can be seen placed on thehead of Hanuman.
The interesting point to note is the portrayal of the same mythical character of Hanumanin so many ways with such radically different features.
The Gomira craftsmen do not belong to any particular caste, although they might befollowers of either the Vaishnav cult or the Shakti cult. Their tribal or original family
surnames have been lost and most of them use Sarkar as their family name. The women folk
have never been a part of mask-making, but they do practice natural fibre-weaving on simple
home-made looms and these naturally dyed mats, called ‘dhokra’ are sold in the local‘haats’.

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The portrayal of characters through the mask depends upon the craftsman and thetradition he has inherited. The Gomira masks are crafted from wood, but any villager whocannot afford a wooden mask, usually offers a mask made from shola pith, which is a cheaper
alternative.
Evolution
The contrast between the traditional style and the current, evolved style is evident in thepicture below, one from a Kolkata-based artist and connosiuer and the other a 'Modern Mask:Mahishbathan'. Both the masks portray the character Bishal. The finesse of the facial features
and the vivid palette, seen in the modern mask is entirely missing in the traditional mask,even though they both portray the same mythical character.
The craft itself is evolving. The exposure to the outside world influences the craftsman
and is later reflected in his work. Their visits to trade-fairs and handicraft-fairs bring them incontact with other art forms and artists of other traditions and regions.

Materials & Process
Historically the masks were made from 'pure woods' such as neem, as per Hindu
mythology. Later locally available and cheaper wood such as mango, pakur, kadam, gamhar
and teak came to be used. The craftsmen choose the appropriate wood depending upon theability of the customer to afford them.
The wood is usually purchased from a nearby sawmill or sometimes cut from a tree by thecraftsman himself. The village craftsmen are very conscious of the environment and always
plant one tree for trees cut down, usually of the same species.
Originally the Gomira masks were painted with natural dyes. Red dye was made fromsegun, green from seem (a form of bean), violet from jamun, and black from jia tree.

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Traditional Art: Gomira Dance Mask

However, these dyes were not permanent and tended to fade with time and were verytime consuming. The craftsman had to gather the material, grind it, and mix with water andstrain through cloth before use. Slowly the use of chemical dyes and even enamel paints havegained acceptance mainly because of ready availability and permanence, which is not very
appealing to traditionalists.
The other important raw material is varnish. Many customers want the pristine shape with
only varnish. The performers however use coloured masks. The mask making begins withcutting the log of wood, given the sizes of masks, the initial piece of wood is about 18″ to 24″long. This is then immersed in water for seasoning, which renders the wood soft and thus,
subsequent cutting and crafting becomes easier. The basic form emerges first with the use ofthe adze, followed by emphasis on facial features. Once the basic shape has emerged, theyuse the broad chisel and heaviest hammer to bring out the final shape. As the work
progresses, the narrower chisels and lighter hammers are used. Once the front of the mask iscomplete except for finer finishing, the reverse side of the mask, where the face of thewearer is expected to fit, is scooped out very carefully. The router chisels are used to gougeout cavities such as the opening of the mouth and eyes. If the mask is to be used for thepurpose of dancing, only then the eyes, mouth etc are hollowed out.
The final procedure involves fine chiseling of the entire mask. This whole process takes
about 4-5 days, or more depending upon the complexity of the mask. Once the mask iscomplete, then comes finishing; the first step to which is smoothening of the mask, which isdone by using sand papers of various grades. Next, the mask gets a coat or two of varnish,
which provides smoothness to the mask and ensures durability. Many a times the masks are
sold in this condition itself. In case the masks are to be sold to the Gomira dance performers,
they need to be hand-painted, in colours particular to the characters to be portrayed. For
example, the character of Jambuban is always painted in deep violet.
Current Practice
The craft was studied at the Mahisbathan Gramin Hasta Shilpa Samabay Samiti Limited.
This center operates as a cooperative of craftsmen and artisans who live in the nearby
villages and are devoted to this craft of Gomira mask making. The center is trying to resurrect
this art, which is on the verge of extinction, by giving the craftsmen a place to work, ensuring
payments for work done and promoting the sale of masks and other artifacts. The masks aremade at the center from wood and material purchased centrally. The center pays themember-artisans based on the quality and quantity of masks produced and mutually decided

rates. For most of the artisans, mask making is a supplementary source of income, since they

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Chitrolekha International Magazine on Art and Design, Vol. 1, No. 1, April, 2011

share their time with other vocations such as agriculture, animal husbandry or running ofsmall shops in their villages.
A notable exception is the master craftsman, Mr. Shankar Sarkar who has devoted his life
to the craft of making Gomira masks and this is the only source of income for him. Individual
craftsmen are able to produce about 6 to 7 masks per month and are paid according to thesize, complexity and time taken. On an average, the Samiti is able to deliver 90 to 100 masks
per month, where the selling price varies from Rs. 700/- all the way upto Rs. 3000/-,depending on the complexity.
In recent times however, to augment their product range, newer products have been
adopted from the adivasi culture, which include the bas relief decorative panels or chodol
and the ektaras. Chodols are fabricated palanquins, an art which strangely, the adivasis havethemselves forgotten and buy them from the Samiti or such craftsmen instead, for theirmarriages and ceremonies. With the increasing efforts from some artists and connoiseurs, thiscraft has found meaning with some discerning buyers. Hope these endeavours pave a judicious
way forward for this rich performing art !!

[Documented in the year 2004 with the support of Mahisbathan Gramin Hasta Shilpa Samabay Samiti
Limited and Mr. Abhijit Gupta.]

Tulip Sinha, Founder, FolkUs Design Interventions, Bangalore. Email: tulip.del@gmail.com