Chhau-The Dance of Mask

The simple tribal people of Bihar to express their creative joy through Chhau dance was originally a war dance to perfect fighting techniques, it has over the years evolved into a narrative ballet. Hillock like lone pebble on an endless journey skirted rolling terrain and surrounded by picturesque forest, range and remove the serried ranks of hills, soil, red-black people, especially tribals-complexioned black, his eyes clear and bright children of the earth, where thin sand-fuzzy River Kharkai gives greater vitality of the inhabitants of earth days. And old Jagannath Temple on the river bank, the sudden flicker of glitter, the naked body of children playing hide and seek, the low rumble of distant drums, called 'Dhamsa "of tribals. All these were an indispensable part of the place a little peaceful village called Seraikella. Seraikella was formerly a princely state, now a division of the District located in Singhbhum, north of Orissa in Jharkhand.

Spring season, which according to the Indian calendar, marks the end of one year and opens up a new one, is celebrated on Seraikella as the old 'Chaitra Parabéns'. Some rituals are followed involves a jug of water around the village to trust God who is supposed to ensure prosperity and a good yield of crops. These rituals lead to tension in the people who reach a crescendo when the favorable moment of the special Chhau performance arrives.

The heightened exaltation and ecstasy will also infect visitors to this site during the spring festival. As the whole village dancing all night, definitely one is tempted to meddle with the lively, rustic people.

The state Singhbhum where Seraikella always played a crucial role in the country, Singh Kings. A wide range of Singh Kings have contributed to its history. It was Darpanaryan Singh, who founded this state in 1205th Since then, there was no interference in the sovereignty supreme rulers. The "seven hundred Hills" of Saranda and Bangriposi and impossible virgin forests provide a degree of security and cultural autonomy in this country, makes it inaccessible to the attackers.

For centuries it has been culturally invincible. Still clashes and small skirmishes between local fighters sometimes were a threat, and the possibility of a foreign invasion could not be completely blown away. A couple Garh and Kella (forts) were built to shelter and train a special group of warriors. To achieve perfection in various battles, tactics and strategies, while getting a proper control over one's physics, a dance was invented-a deliberate change from tribal dance. This dance was named pharikhanda or war dance with shields and swords.

Later, under British rule, the shields and swords lost their charm, overwhelmed by more advanced weapons, and the purpose of the dance lost its goal and was a skeleton of its original from. Later this form was given a touch a classic delicacy and a refined tenderness. The dance was open to creativity, innovation, creativity and momentum. It reached a classical refinement, self-maintaining and nourishing the tradition-borne human elements inherent in this form. This combination of classicism and folk elements imparted a unique feature of this dance form and made it widely acceptable to all people-a flexible medium, which is reflected all the best in the wild. This newly developed dance was a kind of narrative ballet, illustrative not only of the elementary nature, but of the subtle nuances, gestures and movements in the physical world, both living and inanimate. This dance became known as "Chhau 'dance.

There is no disagreement about the origins of the word 'Chhau'. According to some experts that the word 'Chhau' off 'Chho', which means a mask or a shadow, but the second word is derived from "Chhauni ', which means barrack of soldiers. All of these meanings, but is related to the nature and origin of dance. Seraikella is the place where this dance was born from, and on the eve of Spring Festival every year, people celebrate this time with the colorful show with 'Chhau. "gates of old Maharaja's places kept open for dancers. The farm is specially prepared. Members of the royal household, through the ages, has not been only the patrons but also has taken an active part in the 'Chhau performance.

Small boys at an early age are selected and taken under the guidance of their parents and learned the stories of the legends, with mimic gestures to tell them. The preparation of the dancer passes through three stages. The first is called Chali or the movement that mimes a particular gait of an animal. At this stage, a disciple be trained to a very strict grammar of measured footwork and talk, and various rotations and movements of the upper limbs. All these features are some stylized gestures that imitate footsteps militant fighters or animals in action. The next phase is called upalaya or upheli which is the soul of the dance.

The earlier movements are improved through upalaya and subtleties and variations of this dance movements mold of a traditional media aesthetic subtlety. The dance, originally a masculine war dance, now get softness and tenderness through upalaya that teaches the use of speed in a controlled motion, and mixes it with a rhythmic spasm, which is necessary to portray a national stage. Rhythm in the legs and acts throughout the body put an abstract expression in a form. The housewives' daily activities, the fashionable young people in the suburb are hidden movements of animals-all these ordinary scenes made poetic by the nimble twists of the body and finely measured, intricate footsteps, who was born of a creative harmony and an artistic fusion between imitation and imagination . After Challis and upalayas a dancer goes through thorough training of the complex Khel or exercises of sword play with opponents. These Khel requires a large amount of agility. A guru, sings a few mnemonic syllables govern the movement dancer who also remembers them to count their footsteps.

The strenuous exercises has a set structure which is strictly observed. As it is difficult to dance long sequences involves a mask, the elements of 'Chhau' dance last from five to ten minutes each. When his face is covered, there is no possibility of facial expressions, only a sudden movement of the head and neck convey moods. Limbs of the performer to animate static expression of the mask. Maybe it's a big task for the mask, representing a mythological character, highlight the results as a group activity, steering his eyes away from each dancer. Without the mask, the very dance from would have been changed and with it a legacy of the collective nature of something.

In Seraikella is craft molding masks, an art in itself, has been handed down from father to son through countless generations. After the famous mask-maker, Prasanna Kumar Mahapatra, his son, Sushanta continues to maintain a high standard of artistic perfection in the manufacture of masks. In the first expression of a character is visualized, and then given figures on the mask, formed from the dark clay found on the banks of Kharkai river. The clay is first dissolved in water and then made into a thick paste. The clay model of a wooden structure is dried for two or three days. A gauze is wrapped over it followed by two three layers of paper and a layer of clay. Nose and eyes are carved out of a sharp knife and clay shoveled out from the hollow of the dried up clay model. The mask is brushed and painted. This method is known as papier-mâché. These masks are painted mainly with flat transparent shadows and lines are bold and clear. Avoid the realistic identification masks take a symbolic character. Triple bottom mark and the third eye of Shiva's forehead represent energetic energy and imagination and a little pout of the lips expression of love and tenderness. The mask of Ratri (night) has hanging eyes convey the mood in a mysterious world hidden and fragile in the dark night. The mask of deer that have eyes Banabiddha knit in pain. The stylized gestures of eyebrows, eyes and mouth are carefully painted to bring out character.

The dancers are accompanied by an orchestra composed of local variations of drums shenai, Signa, mandira, flute, and in those days, violin, sitar and harmonium also. When the music starts, dots in torchlights seen marching in an endless procession against 'Chhau' mandap (the place). People gathered from as far as ten to fifteen miles away. At present there are two great places for 'Chhau'-Rajbari (King's Square), and scenes from the Bihar government. The latter is generally filled with VIPs and officials, but the former has a typical local, regional tastes. It is said that the rulers have played a crucial role in the development of "Chhau." The castle in those days is open to all to celebrate the spring festival.

The nights of Chhau dance with all spellbound as the dance ends spectators ready to surprise dawn breaks. Elements of great interest is Aarti (offering prayer), mayur (peacock), nabik (boatman), Ratri (night), Radha, Krishna, etc. In Aarti, a priest offering a lamp and prayer to God. The mayur as choreographic imagination, shows rapturous joy of birds on the approach of the monsoon. The nabik dance is unique in its own way to play at different levels of symbolic meanings-boatman accompanied by his wife, plays his veins, one caught in a raging storm, and he finally triumphs evil force in the form of a storm that bears his wife and the boat safely to shore. The storm here is responsible for the hardships that life offers, and that man goes through in the direction of victory. Ratri is a mysterious, melancholy and volatile quality about it. Night down to earth spreading a pall of darkness awesome, but when the moon and the stars appear, starting night frolicking with them. As night casts a spell on caresses and oblivion lulls the weary world into a quiet sleep. And a new life, regeneration, has hinted at the end. Sabar In experiments, defeat and final victory in a hunter in a forest, is depicted with an unsurpassed ingenuity. Radha-Krishna celebrates the eternal love of the divine lovers. Through these dances the performers interact with the audience. This report between artist and audience is of great importance in the performance of Seraikella Chhau. The Chhau dance erases class and caste divisions of society. The dancers come from the upper castes, and from tribal communities. Their confusion and total teamwork required for the execution. The themes and gestures combine myths with regional folklore, which adds richness and color to the core of the dance. These regional features people, their costumes, the changing seasons for-all go into molding this traditional art, which attracts people from around the world.