Design Resource
Mukha Shilpa Assam
Traditional Art of Mask Making
by
Stage 1
The process starts with the splitting of bamboos. Jati bamboo is cut into required size depending on the size of the mask, e.g. for a face mask or mukh mukha, two internodes of bamboo is required and for a sumukha or lutukai mukha, four nodes. These pieces are then split into fine strips and woven into a frame. Strips are the building blocks of the mask. Making of bamboo strips into the required thickness is one of the vital steps of mask making. Since the process is done manually with knives, attaining the perfect thickness for the masks takes a period of time to learn. A specific pattern is followed during the weaving process, called as “Lakhimi sutra”.
The name Lakhimi sutra is a locally given name associated with baskets used to grow rice. The patterns of bamboo weaving that is followed while making masks is similar to the one used in making of these baskets. Rice is associated with goddess Lakshmi, and hence the name Lakhimi sutra where sutra means formula or pattern. Strips of cotton clothes, dipped in clay-water mixture is used to cover the frame and sun dried for the subsequent stages. This process can take one or half a day depending upon the amount of sunlight available for the mask to dry.
