Garuda Dancing Mask

A magnificent and rare Ramlila festival mask from Orissa, in excellent condition with original colour and patina. Notable features include a Vaishnavite tilak (mark), a tiered crown with geometric and floral motifs and an upturned moustache emanating from a large beaked nose. Two large earrings with decorative swirls hang from his elongated ears and tiny ovular slits have been cut out beneath the eyes to help the dancer navigate while wearing the mask.

Garuda is often shown as the mount of Vishnu. He was originally (in the Rig Veda) regarded as the sun in the form of a bird but this association was taken over by Surya. His earliest appearance in Indian sculpture was as a mythical bird forming part of the animal kingdom paying homage to the Buddha. The necessity of emphasising its mythological aspect resulted in characteristic distortions of its form combining sometimes a parrot like beak and human elements and wearing ear-rings. By the end of the Pallava period the bird element in his appearance had shrunk to a beak-like nose and wings attached to an otherwise human body. In this form he is usually shown with two hands (often in anjali mudra).