The Chhau dance of West Bengal has originated from the Purulia distrct and is considered as the most popular Indian folk dance and said to have originated from some primitive war-hoops. Most of the tribal people performed it in an effort to appease and influence the Sun God.

Chhou dance is mostly performed in the open space or ground field during the night. The dancers take a bath and do puja before performing this dance, in order to maintain the sacredness of dance as the characters in the dance are of gods. Generally, fire poles called as mashaal surround the dance arena, for the purpose of light.

The Chhau dance is a mask dance performed only by the male dancers. The masks generally used for Chhau of West Bengal are made in a village called Charida in Baghmundi area of Purulia district. These masks are made up from the clay and paper. The Chhau dance is mythological, as it is mainly based on various episodes of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Sometimes certain episodes of the Puranas are also used. Two rasas are dominant in the performance are Vira and Rudra and in the end, forces of evil are punished and the righteous triumphs. In the performance of the Chhau, some of the characteristics of primitive ritualistic dances are noted. This is also seen through its vigour, style and musical accompaniment mainly with the drum.

Basically, Chhau is a festival dance, performed on the occasion of the sun festival observed according to the Bengali calendar and towards the end of the month of Chaitra. The festival is celebrated for about one-and-a-half months till the sowing season starts, indicating its linkage with the social and economic life of the Bengal farmer & common man. However, as the time passed by, the situation changed drastically, Chhau is not only performed on this sun festival but also during many other festivals at other times of year. Usually, the dance takes place on the ground where, the spectators can sit in a circle around it. The Chhau dance shows usually start in the night and continue till after daybreak.

In the early period, various shaped symbols were used as facial painting or body painting by dancers. Thus, they are recognized as personifying the characters they are playing in the performance. Later on, the masks appeared in the dance performances. It is said that, the best Chhau dancers are from Baghmundi. Many other groups like Domordi-group, Birgram-group, Madla-group . are also famous for the performance but they are more sophisticated and refined in terms of the themes and dancing styles. The Chorda-group is popular for the best performance is based on the heroic Pauranic themes.

The costumes of the Chhau performers used at the time of its early year performance, over two hundred years ago are not known. But the costumes used in modern period are of various colours and designs. It mainly comprises of pajamas in deep green or yellow or red shade that is worn by the artistes playing the role of gods; whereas those playing the role of demons have on loose trousers of a deep black shade. Sometimes, stripes of contrasting colours are also used to make the costumes more attractive & different. The costumes for the upper part of the body are full of various designs. The costumes for the character of Goddess Kali are made up of cloth of unrelieved black, and to express the separate & distinct identity, the characters of animals and birds use suitable type of masks and costumes.

The use of the drum is an important part of Chhau performance. With the beating of drums an invocation to God Ganesha is given and the dance begins. As the singer complete the invocation song, a host of drummers and musicians start beating the Dhol and the Dhamsa. It is said that the drummers themselves make and tune the Dhol and the Dhamsa and Shehnaias it is the tradition of Chhau dance. Musical part is an integral prelude to the actual dance performance. By the pleasant music and chanting of bols- (Beats) the musicians create a wonderful environment prior to the dance performance. After this sweet musical journey, the character of Lord Ganesha appears on the dancing ground followed in quick succession by other characters -gods, demons, animals and birds.

As it is compulsory for all the characters in the Chhau dance to wear masks, it is impossible for the artistes to show variations in mood through facial expressions. Therefore, various body movements, including movements of the peaks of the masks are used to illustrate different moods. The mask movements show anger, while shoulder and chest movements indicate joy, depression and courage etc. Jumping in the air is another movement, which serves as a gesture of attack during the enactment of a war scene. This kind of jumping known as ulfa is a high hallmark of acrobatic skill and physical prowess of the performers of the dance.

The Chhou dance is performed in the tribal areas of Jharkhand and also in some parts of Chattisgarh and Orissa states of India. As such there is no any the actual history behind performance of the Chhou dance, it is still performed from many years. Hence, it is considered as the advanced dance form of traditional tribal dance that has developed gradually with time & with the course of interactions with other neighboring cultures.