Dances with masks

Sri Lanka has a rich culture. In our last 'Heritage Splendour' pages, we spoke about Sri Lanka's traditional drums and dancing. Today, we will tell you about the masks of Sri Lanka, another attraction of the country.

Mask production is mainly centred in and around Ambalangoda, on the southern coast. In our olden days, people used to worship demons or yakku, as they were called in Sinhala.

Today, the tradition of hanging a mask upon new houses and huts is seen almost everywhere, to prevent evil spirits entering the place, especially while it's under construction.

Also, in earlier times, when a person fell sick and wasn't cured by medicines, the people came to the conclusion that the disease was caused by a demon, so they organised a 'Thovil'.

This is not very common now. During a Thovil, masks are heavily used to depict the demon. It always connects with traditional dancing. In other words, masks are used in various dramatic rituals in Sri Lanka which can be classified as mythological, demonic, animal-spirit and human figures.

The significance and designs of mythological masks are associated with iconography (depicting something in pictures) of the folk religions of the historical period. On the other hand, the significance and design of the human masks have evolved in recent times.

The real masks and masking traditions are extraordinary cultural events and a significant contribution that Sri Lanka has made to the Asian cultural spectrum.

The present-day indigenous people, who are considered to be the primeval (earliest) ancestors of the Sinhalese, have preserved various ritual ceremonies and practices involving mime (acting with gestures), facial (expressions) and body painting.

Some of these practices are directly connected with ancestor worship as is evident from the na-Yaku cult. These attempts at praying to the supernatural are evident in other parts of the world too where hunter-gatherer societies still exist.

Masks exist basically in three contexts in the ritual, in the ceremonial dance, professional displays and festive occasions.

The curative rituals are commonly known as thovil, and include Sanni/Daha ata sanni, in which masks are extensively used: rituals associated with gods are known as Gammadu and Devol madu where a pantheon of divinity are invoked either to bring prosperity or to chase away infectious diseases, where masked dances are few and far between.

There exist two other demon dance ceremonies called Mahasohon Samayama and Gara-yakuma, the former is connected with the belief in a ghastly and hairy monster of gigantic proportion, called Mahasohona, the demon of the graveyard, while the latter is associated with a group of demons referred to as Garayakku.

In mask practices, the most important of the thovil varieties is the cycle known as Sanni where disease-causing demons are symbolised through masks. But the most elaborate masks are of the kolam variety. Naga masks are also some of them.

They comprise very elaborate designs featuring a demonic face topped with writhing cobras. It is said to represent protection. Its counterpart is the gurulu mask, featuring a snake eating bird.

These events are more like an opera, having a central theme and a series of episodes enacted by dancers wearing masks of different sizes, culminating in the dramatic presentation of a story (Jasaya and Lenchina).

Sanni means an ailment or disease.

These are believed to arise out of the dark states of the humours-evil humour and anger which are caused by a set of demons, each of them called Sanni-yaka, but in his birth story is called Raja-mulu Sanni yaka. The sanni masks except that of the chief demon belong to a variety commonly known as kata munu and belong to a similar variety.

In a sanni ceremony, there are two types of masks; sanni masks and Pali masks. If sicknesses are to be cured, the rituals can last all night. A sanni mask is worn which includes ugly representations of 18 different devils associated with afflictions. The ritual is to drive them out. Eighteen separate masks can be used in these ceremonies.

This is also more like a theatre. Since there is much dialogue in the various scenes, the sanni masks are carved with adequate provision for the mask-wearer to talk at length and have his voice heard loud and clear by the audience.

The masks of Sri Lanka is a very fascinating subject. We hope to share more details about them with you in future.

Janani Amarasekara