Mask – Himalaya

Himalaya | India

Mask – Himalaya

India

Mask worn during the Phagli (or Fagli) festival
Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India

19th century or earlier
Carved wood with pigments
Height: 31 cm – 12 ¼ in.

Provenance
Collection Frédéric Rond, Paris

Publication
“Les Visages de l’Himalaya”, Alain Bovis, Frédéric Rond, January 2024, plate 48

Exhibition
“Les Visages de l’Himalaya”, Crous de Paris, April 2024

Himachal Pradesh mask 31 cm / Galerie Flak Price on request
As noted by Frederic Rond in " Masks of Himachal" (Indian Heritage, 2018, page 60), "Fagli" (from "Phalgun", a month of the Hindu calendar) festival, mainly celebrated in the Kullu district at the end of winter (February-­March) has different interpretations depending on the village where it takes place and on one's interlocutor.
For some villagers, it is a reconstruction of the encounter between the indigenous people and the Rajputs who took control of this region during the 11th century.
Another interpretation is that Fagli celebrates the victory of the local tutelary deities over the demons incarnating the painful winters the populations have to face.
The last known (to the author) interpretation, which is probably the most recent as well, is the Hindu adaptation of the previous one, in which Vishnu, "the Saviour", wakes up at the end of winter and delivers the village from the evil spirits.
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