{"id":19778,"date":"2023-07-25T04:40:25","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T04:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/?p=19778"},"modified":"2023-07-25T04:40:25","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T04:40:25","slug":"majulis-mask-art-assams-hidden-gem-in-indias-northeast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/2023\/07\/25\/majulis-mask-art-assams-hidden-gem-in-indias-northeast\/","title":{"rendered":"Majuli\u2019s Mask Art: Assam\u2019s Hidden Gem in India\u2019s Northeast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>INDIA, July 20, 2023 (The Indian Sun): Nestled in Assam\u2019s Brahmaputra River, there lies a river island known as Majuli. This enchanting island made history in 2016 by becoming the first-ever in India to be designated as a district. However, Majuli\u2019s significance doesn\u2019t stop there. It also holds a vital role as one of the prominent sites where the art of mask making continues to flourish. For Utpal Borpujari, a former journalist turned filmmaker, India\u2019s northeast region, of which Assam is a part, still suffers from a significant information gap when it comes to the outside world. Through his films, Borpujari aspires to bridge this gap and shed light on the region\u2019s rich cultural heritage and untold stories, showcasing them on the big screen. The Mask Art of Majuli is one such attempt. In it, Borpujari creatively focuses on the only two families that are keeping the practice alive at the Natun Chamaguri Satra, including the award-winning mask maker, Dr Hem Chandra Goswami.<br> <br>\u201cThe numerous Satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) of Majuli, the world\u2019s largest inhabited river island, are not only religious places of great significance but also form the heart of Satriya culture that was created by 15th century saint, poet, playwright, social reformer and cultural icon Srimanta Sankardev. \u201cOne key element of the Satriya culture is the masks that are worn by performers during Bhaona, which are dance dramas based primarily on Hindu mythology. These masks\u2014or Mukha as they are called in Assamese\u2014represent an intricate art form, and artisans create them in a unique and totally organic way using biodegradable material,\u201d explains Borpujari. This August, Borpujari \u2018s documentary The Mask Art of Majuli, produced by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) will make its way to Australia as part of the 14th Indian International Film Festival (IFFM). It will be accessible online during the 10-day festival.<br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theindiansun.com.au\/2023\/07\/20\/majulis-mask-art-assams-hidden-gem-in-indias-northeast\/\n\">https:\/\/www.theindiansun.com.au\/2023\/07\/20\/majulis-mask-art-assams-hidden-gem-in-indias-northeast\/<br><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INDIA, July 20, 2023 (The Indian Sun): Nestled in Assam\u2019s Brahmaputra River, there lies a river island known as Majuli.,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19778"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19799,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19778\/revisions\/19799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}