Chhau Dance Performances

The Purulia style of Chhau, a semi-classical martial masked dance inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2010, is one of the most spectacular performing arts in India. Dancers wear elaborate, heavyweight masks representing gods, demons and animals from the Hindu epics, while percussionists pound out rhythms on the dhol and dhamsa drums and a shehnai player threads melody through the performance. Ask at your resort or hotel to arrange an on-demand performance, as many properties in the broader Purulia circuit can organise this for guests. For the full experience, visit Charida village (about 45km from Joychandi via Baghmundi), where nearly every household is involved in the hereditary craft of Chhau mask-making and artisans work with clay, paper and vivid pigments to create the striking faces of Durga, Mahishasura and Hanuman.