~ Detail photos ~

This mask originates with the Sherdukpen people of Arunachal Pradesh, a state in North East India.  The Sherdukpens are closely related to the Monpa people and share many cultural attributes.  The Sherdukpens are situated slightly south of the Monpa people, and like the Monpas,  they are Vajrayana Buddhists.  This style of mask is a very typical form of the classic Monpa and Sherdukpen cham dances, which take place at specified points in the Lunar year. It shows a woman wearing the traditional Sherdukpen style of ladies hat. The masks were used as components of  the rather provincial "yak dances" as well as in comic and morality "skit" interludes that are part of the more ritualized cham dances that take place at village gompas (gompa = Buddhist temple).