mask, maha-kola sanni yaka, raja mulu sanni yaka

1916.9.321

Name and identification of character
The head of the Sanni demon family, referred to as Maha-kola sanni yaka, Raja-mulu sanni yaka, or Daha-ata sanni yaka (Sin.) (Yaka and yaksaya are alternating terms meaning demon).

Context
This character occupies the main role in the exorcistic demon ritual popularly known as the Sanni yakuma, or the Daha-ata sanniya (Sin.). The mask is not used in dance; it is exhibited in the ritual arena for everyone to see it. It is a wooden image in front of which Sanni dances are performed.

Material
Wood, vel-kaduru (Sin.) (Nux vomica). Thick layers of paint. Several wooden bars made of areca or coconut trunks are attached to the back of the mask to keep it in place.

Iconography
The mask is composite and in the form of a triptych. The three sections cannot be folded. Compared to specimen no 1916.9.320, the texture is not as smooth and the layers of paint not as bright.

The middle section is composed of a standing demon figure. There are two facemasks; one at the feet of the demon, and another on top of his head. The mask at the bottom is similar to a maha gara, (with significant omissions such as the broad half-open mouth) with the eye-teeth extending on either side of the mouth as great fangs, a prominent tongue and a strong nose turned upwards. Other basic characteristics such as the bulging eyes, the pala-peti (Sin.) design on the eyebrows, the reddish brown face colour, the padded lips etc. are noticed. The closed mouth with the grinning teeth resemble the iconographic features of gara demon masks common to workshops in the Mirissa area.

The mask at the top of the figure contains the usual ring of cobras, vattuva (Sin.), common to cobra demon masks. It comprises five cobras. All the cobras contain features of a spectacled cobra as indicated by the sign ¿S¿. On the bridge of the nose is a piece of decorated wood denoting a tilaka (Sin.) mark. The ear-ornaments are shaped like a todu (Sin.) with flower and foliage design. The two arms are bent upwards at the elbows. The hands are shaped to carry a human sacrifice.

The two flanking pieces of the triptych contain small Sanni masks. The carver's are of the opinion that the total is eighteen; nine on each panel. One cannot rely on this calculation because the two masks at the head of each panel are identical, and the number is therefore restricted to seventeen. Except for a few masks, the same features are employed to represent two or three different identities. However, since the ceremony is commonly referred to as the Daha-ata sanniya, it may be agreed that the panels portray the masks in symbolic form.

The entire structure has a frame comprised of two cobras rising from the head of the mask at the bottom and ending on the two shoulders of the standing demon figure.

The sections are held together by means of thin wooden bars of coconut or areca trunks nailed to them. Two such bars are removed; item D and E.

2001 01 18
Dr. M. H. Goonatilleka