Mask Making

Mask Making in Nepal

Mask making is an art and requires a lot of skills.Masks being liked by tourists as a souvenir got a huge commercial value in mid eighties and nineties. Unlike other art works, mask makers do not get good price  although it takes quite a long time to prepare just one single item. The procedure of mask making starts right from the preparing of clay. To make clay soft it is mixed with cotton and Jute and mashed with water. After clay is ready, it is beaten to give it a shape of sheet. Then it is placed on a mould. Slowly with fingers, the artist creates eyes, nose, lips and other organs. The unwanted clay is removed and kept for drying. Lokta paper is laminated on both sides of the mask as to make it last longer. After almost a day, the mask is taken to the dressing room where the artist colors it as per requirement. Finally it is polished and taken for selling. If well promoted, these masks alone can represent Nepal as a whole. The world has a perception of Nepal as a country with god-fearing people, having tremendous faith in relics and religion. And, the masks represent just that. Different masks with different colors and expressions are believed to impact human behavior differently at different point of time. Colorful expressions depicted by Nepalese masks are affectionate, fearful, powerful, wrathful and peaceful. It is also said that peaceful masks could make people feel better at times of restlessness. This must be one reason why people like masks as a perfect decorative item. Not just that but a single mask has its own metaphor hidden behind its expression. Some tell the stories of epics whereas others about the principles of life. Among many of these masks, wrathful ones are mostly liked by tourists. The reason for its popularity among tourists could be its uniqueness and its price, which is very reasonable in comparison to the time and effort invested. The most popular masks made in Nepal are of the Hindu deities such as Kumari, Barahi, Mahakali, Indrayani, Ganesh, Mahadev and so on. Artists also work on some of the Buddhist icons such as Tara and Avalokeshor, Panch Buddha. Clay masks can cost anything between NRs 5 to NRs 5000, depending on its size, color and decoration. Not all masks are created in the similar way. When it comes to masks having religious importance, artists become more cautious while making them. They have to make sure that such masks would look original. A special skill is required to prepare a single piece of them, such as a mask of Kumari itself which is worn during Kumari dance in various Newari cultural events. “The making of religious masks such as Lakhe, Kumari, Ganesh etc has its own procedures where we must be very careful about size, expression, color and appearance that cannot be created on our own,” says, a mask maker. The art of mask making is a heritage and it is endemic to Nepal.