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Skull Mask
Skull Mask
Drawing on paper
Copyright: © Carmen Mensink 2015
Status: For sale
Three kinds of Skull Masks
In the Himalayan Buddhist Cham dances 3 different levels of skull masks & skeleton costumes can be found:
Ging
The lowest level of skeleton dancers are the Ging.
Ging are boy monks who dance in a basic costume and skull mask. They play a semi-comical character and have no skull diadem and no ear decorations, no adornments of any kind. This can be considered the entry-level of skeleton dancers.
Gangre
The mid-level skeleton dancers are he Gangre.
Gangre skull mask dancers wear a single skull or Vajra on top of their heads, and colorful ear decorations besides their ears. They also wear a colorful costume. The Gangre dancers usually dance as a pair or a group of four and they are seen as helpers. Carmen’s drawing above is that of a Gangre mask.
Citipati
The highest level of skeleton dancers are the Citipati skeletons, who always dance in pair of male & female. They wear a diademe with 5 small skulls and their clothes are mainly red and white in color.
Related to this subject:
- Citipati thangka & explanation
- Wrathful Face Mask
- Deer Mask
- Tibetan Mask Making
- Cham Lama Dance – colorful costumes & masks
- Wrathful Deities