Unmasking the Symbolic Meaning of Mask in the Newari Festivals

Abstract

Unmasking the masks is a way of delivering the message enveloped in the symbols of culture, religions and socialization processes. This phenomenon is very meaningful from the anthropological perspective. For this article, field research was conducted in the Kathmandu Valley purposefully in Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur and Kirtipur Durbar Square on the festivals celebrated and the various cultural and religious performances in the year 2023 and 2024. The theories of Clifford Geertz, Erving Goffman and Herbert Mead are applied in the context of Newari mask dance festivals. The masks used in Newari festivals represent the various cultural and religious features, and these masks are the windows through which we have tried to explore the Newari world. In Newar mask performance, the role of dress and music also play vital role for the performance in totality. The research explores that the masks signify various meanings, and the meanings depend on the colors, shape and size. Specific masks are used for specific gods, goddesses and even for panca tatwa – prithvi tatwa, bayu tatwa, jala tatwa, akash tatwa, and agni tatwa. Field-based data and information are interpreted by using anthropological methods where ontology, epistemology and methodology are defined shortly using participants’ observation, in-depth interviews and various other methods. The study also incorporates the axiological dimension of Newari culture.