~ Detail Photos ~

Here's a unique mask... the likes of which you just don't encounter very often.  It is the visage of the Demon King Ravana, from the Hindu epic the Ramayana.  Ravana covets the wife of Rama - an exiled prince who is the avatar of Vishnu, which is to say - he is God incarnate.  His wife Sita, is then naturally the embodiment of the divine feminine.  Sita is abducted by the nasty and vicious demon king with his repulsive form with 10 heads.  Long story short.... with the assistance of Hanuman the monkey god - who is the divine son of the wind and a she-monkey, Rama is eventually able to save Sita and sleigh the demon Ravana.

This mask, like most of Ramayana character masks from Nepal, originates in the southern lowland jungles - an area known as the Terai.  There, ethnic groups such as the Tharu and Rajbansi, have an avid masking culture and characters from the Hindu epics are the preferred subject matter.  The mask has minor cosmetic loss to the tip of the nose and to the paint.  Generally speaking, its in good shape and is structurally utterly sound.