mask

1916.9.305

Name and identification of character
Possibly a mask of the Gara family, Gara muna (Sin.).

Context
This character appears in several contexts: (i) in the demon ritual called Gara Yakuma (Sin.), also known as Gara Toile (Sin.), which is a piscatorial ritual in the south of the island, (ii) in stage two in a Kolam performance, (iii) in the finale of ritual ceremonies.

Material
Wood, vel-kaduru (Sin.) (Nux vomica).

Iconography
The headdress is composed by an expanded cobra-hood with a smaller cobra at its base. Both cobras are ornamented with designs common to all Gara masks: geometrical patterns consisting of green lines and white and red squares. Spectacle-shaped red marks on the larger cobra-hood and similar blue marks on the smaller cobra are indications of spectacled cobras.

The shape of the mouth, similar to that of a carnivorous animal, the eye-brows and the cobra-hoods indicate traits of a Gara demon. Although, the absence of the ear-discs makes it difficult to identify the mask with certainty.

The eye-brows are decorated with petal deigns, pala-peti (Sin.). Two spots, tilaka (Sin.), are registered on the ridge of the nose. The eyes protrude. The nose is flat and has a dent mark on the ridge. The mouth is broad with spike-like teeth. Two eye-teeth. Whiskers are drawn around the mouth.

2000 12 15
Dr. M. H. Goonatilleka