![]() History of Chau Dance Some people say that "Chau" is a dialect which means six faces: fore head, eyes, nose, cheeks, lips and chin and a mask bears the six parts of the face. The word "Chau" ordinarily means mask and because the dance is performed by use of mask, it is called "Chau Dance". According to another school of thought the word "Chau" has been derived from Sanskrit word "Chabi" that means image. Others say that as the dance is characterized by variety it is called Chau dance and therefore the word meaning of "Chau" is Chabila in Sanskrit and picturesque in English. According to new theories Chau is invented pronunciation of the word Chauni (Military Barrack or Cantonment). ![]() Themes of Chau dance The themes of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were introduced in the Chau dance at a later and final stage. However there is continuity of tradition from the earliest form of Chau dance of the Jain and Buddhist age to the medieval form of it. Some basic elements of the dance have been borrowed from the aboriginals and incorporated it later. However the attributes and its codification into a proper from are the contributions of sophisticated arts. Chau dance belongs to the tandava form of Indian Classical dance. All the cultural elements possessed by the aboriginals are not their own instead some have been borrowed from superior cultures. The most important social function of the feudal chiefs was the celebration of the ceremonial worships of the goddess Durga. Along with the celebration of Durga by the feudal chiefs the story of Ramayana was introduced and it was included in the local dance-drama performance of Chhau. It may be presumed that by the eighteenth century A.D Chhau dance of Purulia adopted Ramayana as its theme. Simultaneously masks made of pulp were introduced by the image-makers of Purulia, instead of wooden masks. In 2010 the Chau dance was marked in the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Hindi film Barfi! has some scenes that features the Purulia Chau in it. |