Gods and Masks of the Kathmandu Valley-Anna Vergati-DKPD-9788124601211
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| The presence of
masks as both ritual and art objects is attested among the traditions of
mankind’s oldest civilisations. Cutting across cultural and geographical
barriers, they have exhibited a remarkable range and diversity of meanings
throughout history. The present study focuses on the masks worn in the
Kathmandu Valley by the main ethnic group, the Newars. A specific aspect of
the Newars is that, despite the political dominance of Hinduism, Buddhism is
still alive. The masks represent gods, goddesses and demons, but never the
dead or the ancestors. The author argues that the reason for the absence of
figurations of the dead or ancestors is to be explained by the funerary
rituals. There are no memorial monuments or other objects which perpetuate
the memory of the deceased: It is through rituals performed after their death
that the memory is preserved. The distinction is made between statue-masks
and the masks worn during ritual dances. The author focuses on the contexts
in which the masks are worn by professional dancers and draws attention to
the legends which explain the origin of the dances and their ritual role.
Detailed descriptions are given of the dances performed during different
festivals in the localities of the Kathmandu Valley. The masks then worn are
destroyed and re-made ritually each year by painters. Anne Vergati explains
the relation between the dancer as a social person with a social identity and
the mask which represents a god or a goddess. The mask is not supposed to
hide the face of the dancer but to transform his identity in such a way as to
make of him a deity. Supported by numerous illustrations in colour, the book
will appeal to historians and connoisseurs of art as well as to scholars of
the cultures of the Himalayan regions. |
| Book |
| ISBN |
9788124601211
|
| PUBLISHER |
DKPD |
| Binding |
HARDBACK |
| Edition |
2000 |
| Language |
ENGLISH |
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Gods and Masks of the Kathmandu Valley-Anna Vergati-DKPD-9788124601211
