A famous folk dance of West Bengal, the Gambhira dance is mainly performed during the festival of Chaitra Sankranti and unlike the Chhau dance, this folk dance form is not a group dance. The Gambhira masks used during this dance is made out of neem, fig trees and sometimes even clay by the local Sutradhar community.
Theme of Gambhira Mask
There are various themes which are represented by the mask of Goddess Kali with extended tongue is the most popular. Unlike the other Gambhira masks, the masks representing Goddess Kali are provided with no holes for the eyes and the dancers have to follow the beats of the drum to dance while their eyes are covered.
Technique of Gambhira Mask
The speciality of the Gambhira masks is that they are 3 dimensional crowns, the facial features of which are carved out from a piece of wood and then coloured according to the character. The artisan carves out the face, nose, eyes and ears on a block of wood in an appropriate manner depending on the shape of the mask. The crown is made from triangular, spear shaped wooden strips, which are then fixed in a row on the mask"s head. The face of the mask is then painted with appropriate colours to suit the character of the mask.
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