figure, sculpture, mask

1916.9.327 Name and identification of character The chief of the Sanni demons, known variously as the Maha-kola-sanni yaka (yaka is also referred to as yaksaya, meaning demon), or Raja-mulu sanni yaka, or Daha-ata sanniya/Daha-ata sanni yaka. Context The mask is used in the Sanni ceremony known as the Daha-ata sanniya (Sin.), or Sanni yakuma (Sin.). Material Wood, vel-kaduru (Sin.) (Nux vomica) and coconut logs or areca wood. Iconography The mask displays iconographic features similar to those of specimen 1916.9.320. The mask is composed in the form of triptych. The three panels cannot be folded. It is a composite structure. The three panels are attached to each other by means of wooden props and kept in place through wooden poles fixed underneath. The central panel contains the standing figure of the demon. The facemask on top of the standing demon denotes a cobra demon, and the facemask at the bottom a gara demon. The feet of the demon are placed on the head of the mask at the bottom, which is painted thickly in reddish-brown. Normal iconographic traits of a gara demon are registered on it. These are basically the broad, half-open mouth with thick and padded gums, a prominent harelip, two sets of white teeth, the lapping tongue, the flat chin, the two eye-teeth, a strong nose turned upwards, two marks of the crescent moon registered on the nose and the bulging eyes shaped like two horns of an animal, petal, pala-peti (Sin.), design on the eyebrows, the ears in the shape of circular discs painted with the lotus motif and wing-like foliage. The colour combination is the same as that in specimen 1916.9.320. The mask at the top of the figure is similar to that of a cobra demon, naga rassaya (Sin.). It comprises a ring of five cobra-hoods, called vattuva (Sin.). The cobras are entwined and rise from the bridge of the nose. The ventrals follow the same geometric patterns found in specimen 1916.9.320. The mouth is that of a ferocious demon. The upper part of the standing demon is bare and is painted in black with crow's feet, kaka-pada (Sin.), drawn in white lines. The lower parts of the legs are also bare and painted in the same way. At the feet of the demon are two humans indicating sacrifices made to the demon. The dress is a chintz skirt, chittaya (Sin.), which contains flower and foliage motifs. The figure has a frame of two cobras whose hoods end on the shoulders like epaulettes. On the two wings the same number of Sanni masks are carved in two vertical rows on each panel. None of these smaller masks convey any specific characteristics that differentiate one from the other. This is in contras to the Sanni masks used in actual dance. Those on the panels are only decorative pieces, displaying identical iconographic traits. 2001 11 01 Dr. M. H. Goonatilleka