Majuli Island Sattriya Mask Making Assam

Majuli island in the Brahmaputra river — the world's largest river island — is the centre of Vaishnavite Sattriya cultural tradition established by saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th century, and home to the distinctive mask-making craft used in Sattriya dance-drama performances at the island's 22 surviving Sattras (monasteries). Majuli masks (mukha) are made from bamboo, cane, clay, wood pulp, and cow dung plaster by hereditary craftsmen (Sutradhara caste) at the Chamaguri, Kamalabari, and Natun Samaguri Sattras, depicting characters from the Dashavatara (ten incarnations of Vishnu), Ramayana, and Mahabharata. Masks range from small face-sized to enormous 3-foot demon heads. The bamboo armature is covered with clay, dried, painted with natural mineral colours, and finished with yak hair, animal horn, and metal detail. Majuli mask-making has GI recognition and the Assam government supports master craftsmen under craft development schemes. Mask performance traditions and craft are under threat from annual Brahmaputra flooding that erodes the island.