Bengal’s Chhau masks makers struggle as pandemic takes its toll

Back in 2019, the traditional Chhau mask-making industry in Purulia, West Bengal, was well known among tourists with around 150 families involved.

Even two years back, Umacharan Sutradhar, 55, and his two sons were comfortably running their families by making the traditional Chhau masks at Chordida village in West Bengal’s Purulia district. But situations changed since the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

Bengal’s Chhau masks makers struggle as pandemic takes its toll

At present, while Umacharan is earning his bread by working as a carpenter, making wooden furniture, and sometimes doors and windows for houses, his eldest son Bibek has taken up a job at a toothbrush factory in Goa. The younger son Sachin is managing a living by making idols in the village.

“Father knew some carpentry work and he is doing that. My brother left for Goa around one and half months ago along with two other men in the village. I have started making idols of Gods and Goddesses for the pujas. The pandemic has taken a heavy toll. We were not being able to make both ends meet with just mask making,” said Sachin Sutradhar.

Back in 2019, the traditional Chhau mask-making industry at Baghmundi in Purulia, around 300 km west of Kolkata, was well known among tourists with around 150 families involved in the mask-making in the entire village.

The masks were not only used for Chhau dancers, who used to perform both in India and internationally but were also a hit among the tourists as they used to flock to the village to purchase the masks and wall hanging and decorative purposes.

“Since the pandemic struck, there is hardly any business. Chhau performance has totally stopped because of the pandemic and lockdown and tourists are coming anymore. Earlier we used to get at least 20–30 vehicles full of tourists every day. Now we hardly get 2–3 once or twice a week,” said Ballab Pal, another artisan who works as a mason painting temples and sometimes as an idol and statue maker.

The masks are of all kinds, from Hindu Gods to mythical beasts. Rates begin from ₹700 and can go up to a few thousand rupees depending on the craftsmanship.

There are three forms of Chhau named after the district or village where they are performed - the Purulia Chhau of Bengal, the Seraikella Chhau of Jharkhand and the Mayurbhanj Chhau of Odisha. While the Seraikelaa and Purulia styles of Chhau use masks, Mayurbhanj Chhau uses none. Again, masks used in Seraikelaa Chhau have a totally different function and stylization to those of Purulia Chhau.

Before the pandemic broke out, Kolkata-based documentary filmmaker Malay Dasgupta had made at least two documentaries named ‘Dancing with Nature’ and ‘Where the mask speaks the mind’ on the Chhau mask-making of Seraikela. Both have been screened at a few international festivals.

“At that time I could find only three mask makers. Kanhaiyalal Maharana, was the senior-most among them and was almost 90 years of age then. He had won the President Award and Kalidas Samman. But when I contacted them recently to shoot an additional segment on the impact of Covid-19 on the folk artists, I found that Maharana had died. The other two have shifted professions. The workshops which the artisans used to hold with local children and youths have almost stopped as the latter have got engaged in other things to earn a living,” said Dasgupta.

Now, only two families remain in Seraikela who are into the mask-making, even though they are depending mostly on other avenues to earn a living.

“We have been making masks for three generations now. But now situations are in very bad shape. Now only two families remain. But even they are not into full-fledged mask-making anymore. I have an MCA degree and work in a private company. Dilip Acharya’s family was also into mask-making but now they mainly make idols,” said Sumit Mahapatra, 35, grandson of Prasanna Kumar Mahapatra who was a noted mask maker.

The last time Sumit made a mask for a Chhau dance performance was in 2019. Every year, more than a dozen Chhau festivals are organised at Seraikela. But due to the pandemic, all these have been suspended. In January 2020, he last made a mask on an order from South Africa and Japan. It cost around ₹2500.

Even though the second wave of Covid-19 is on the decline and there are apprehensions of a third surge, the artisans have not lost their hope. Apart from idol making and other works, artisans at Chorida in Purulia are still occasionally making some of the smaller masks which are usually purchased by tourists.

“We hope that the situation would normalize and tourists would return. Our shops are still open. Earlier I, along with four other artisans working under me, used to make 14–15 masks per day. Now I make 2–3 masks in a week or so. Once the Covid is over, tourists would come and I can sell them. Chhau dance would also start then,” said Manoranjan Mahapatra, another traditional mask maker of Purulia, said.