mask

1916.9.285 Name and identification of character A demon called kala kutaya (Sin.), or kala-kuta raksha (Sin.). Context A demon character in a solo dance in stage two Material Wood, vel-kaduru (Sin.) (Nux vomica). Iconography The headdress and the two circular ear-discs are adorned with cobras. The mouth is shaped like an animal's snout. The cobra-hoods on the head are carved in two tiers, one expanded hood at the top shadow three cobras in the lower tier. Two of the three cobras issue from the nostrils, the third rises from the ridge of the nose. The eyes protrude. The mouth is half-open. Two eye-teeth hang down from the corners of the mouth. A lapping tongue. The face and the cobras are painted in dull grey, which befits the nature of a kala-kuta raksha (Sin.) (kala means black or dark and kuta means summit). 2000 09 27 Dr. M. H. Goonatilleka 1916.09.0285 Sri Lanka Ceylon Sri Lanka Ceylon 1916.9.285 Name and identification of character A demon called kala kutaya (Sin.), or kala-kuta raksha (Sin.). Context A demon character in a solo dance in stage two Material Wood, vel-kaduru (Sin.) (Nux vomica). Iconography The headdress and the two circular ear-discs are adorned with cobras. The mouth is shaped like an animal's snout. The cobra-hoods on the head are carved in two tiers, one expanded hood at the top shadow three cobras in the lower tier. Two of the three cobras issue from the nostrils, the third rises from the ridge of the nose. The eyes protrude. The mouth is half-open. Two eye-teeth hang down from the corners of the mouth. A lapping tongue. The face and the cobras are painted in dull grey, which befits the nature of a kala-kuta raksha (Sin.) (kala means black or dark and kuta means summit). 2000 09 27 Dr. M. H. Goonatilleka 1916.09.0285