Masked-Dance and Audience Reception in the Performing Art Tradition of Purulia Chhau

Abstract: Mask, a traditional and unique identifier, is the source of vital energy for the dancers of Purulia Chhau , a martial art masked-dance form of Eastern India. During performance, dancers leave behind their everyday personalities and become the characters represented by the masks they wear, transforming themselves into mythological figures . Chhau had no dedicated themes in its rudimentary form; however, with the emergence of Hinduism in the seventeenth century , Chhau ’s themes began to be adapted from the Hindu epics of The Ramayana and The Mahabharata , and a few stories were collected from The Puranas , which introduced certain mythological characters to the audience. In Chhau , making masks and performing masked characters requires in-depth knowledge of the Hindu epics, so that both the mask-makers and masked-dancers can bring life to the masks and determine the dancer’s gestures, postures, and dance movements, giving the masked-dance of Chhau an aesthetic performative sense among the audience. Referring to social and cultural perspectives and employing a qualitative approach as our primary methodological tool, this article first aims to take a deeper look into different aspects of the origin, development, and significance of masks, costumes, and musical instruments used in Purulia Chhau . Second, by exploring the nature of performance and the symbolic moments within dance representation, the essay critically examines the importance of audience reception in the performing art tradition of Purulia Chhau .