On the second day of ‘Mukhabhinaya’ — the three-day National Mask Dance festival at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, the audience gave overwhelming response to the traditional mask dances of various States.
The audience shared that they are witnessing performances of some of the mask dances which were till now unheard for them. The ‘Tiwa Mukha Dance’ of Assam and ‘Garaga Dance’ of Andhra Pradesh was the centre of attractions for the evening.
Tiwa Mukha Nrutya is performed by Tiwa tribe of Assam during the ‘Barat’ festival in the full moon night of Push Month.
Both male and females perform the dance using masks of deities, demons and different animal masks. The performance is accompanied by musical instruments such as – Paati Dhol, Taal, Sarailow and Buffalo horn trumpet. This mask dance is performed for whole night to celebrate their Barat festival.
Garaga dance- ‘Garaga' means a pot. In the context of village rituals and dance form, it is a pot, usually made of brass and decorated with turmeric and vermilion and with a colorful cloth.
It is a vigorous dance, performed by twelve to sixteen artists, to enthuse the devotees during the all-night rituals.
They make use of many jatis while dancing and also use synchronizing gestures.Groups of Asadis carry decorated brass pots on their heads and participate in the night-long festivals of the Mother-Goddess, dancing all the while to the varying rhythms of the drums.