As per Indian tradition guests are considered as God and they are greeted with a bindi or tika on the forehead, just as one adorns the Deity in a temple. To honor the guests we adorn our home as per the culture and tradition.
Masks add a eye-popping splash of colour to a dull corner, brightening it immediately. They provide a window into the soul of a culture, and provide us with great conversation pieces for the home.
Bring the faces depicted in myth and legend into your daily lives with this stunning selection of masks from around the country. There are different types of traditional handcrafted masks from all across India. You can choose any suitable mask to fit for your home decor.
Cherial Masks of Tamilnadu
Cherial masks – a part of the Nakashi art form, along with scroll paintings were traditionally used as a tool of storytelling. These masks are made using a light wood base, tamarind seeds and sawdust and then intricately painted, mostly in vibrant colors like a red or yellow as base colour. You will find mask of a typical rural couple in traditional jewellery and turbans. They may also represent bride & groom of any Indian village. These masks can be used as decorative items for the home.
Gomira Wooden Mask of West Bengal
The ecstatic wooden masks of Kushmandi in Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal have inspired from animistic practices of the Rajbongshi community of the area. The masks are used by the villages either during the dance performance ˜Gomira” or as an offering to the village deity in order to usher good forces and fend for the evil. Gomira dance is also known as “Mukha Khel”- which perhaps derives from what one master mask maker explains as… “We give fear a face and then play with it to overcome that fear.”
The masks are made of locally available wood such as Gamar trees, Mango trees and traditionally painted with natural dyes.
Bhaona Masks of Assam
Bhaona masks are traditionally an integral part of the mukh-bhaona performances of Majuli Island in Assam. Masks are a medium of creative expression used in different performances held during festivals, and in the Vaishnavite narrative theatre called the Bhaona. The artists of Majuli make various puranic or mythological characters. Interesting how they built up a mask from natural things bamboo, clay, cow dung and cloth. These masks are made on all the characters of the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Puranas. These masks are quite light in weight.
These are quite light in weight. Masks are made on all the characters of the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Puranas.
So shop for handcrafted decorative masks and choose your favorite mask.