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Nyelbum Mask

TITLE: Nyelbum Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Bhutan
SUBREGION: Western Bhutan
ETHNICITY: Ngalop
DESCRIPTION: Nyelbum (Sinner) Mask
CATALOG ID: ASBT003
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Cham Dance
FUNCTION: Celebration; Entertainment; Social Control
AGE: 19th century
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: pigment; cloth ties

The Ngalop people inhabit western and central Bhutan and are originally of Tibetan origin. The ethnic group includes an estimated 710,000 persons.  The Ngalop are primarily Tibetan Buddhist, and their masks are typically worn at monastery celebrations known as Cham Dances to bless the sowing of the grain, pray for a bountiful harvest, and entertain the public.  This mask, representing Nyelbum, or Digchen Nyalwabum (the sinner). The Nyelbum plays a role in the Dance of the Stag and the Hunter, a story of the Buddhist saint Millarepa’s conversion to Buddhism (along with a deer and his dog). The Nyelbum is the assistant to Millarepa, and he also plays a role in collecting donations from the crowd during the Cham performance. During the Raksha Mangcham, the Dance of the Judgment of the Dead, Nyelbum plays an important role in the morality tale of the consequences of sin and virtue. Nyelbum appears before Shinjey Choekyi Gyelpo, the Lord of Death, with the black demon Due Nagpo and the white deity Lha Karpo to judge two dead souls, Nyelbum and Khimdag Palkyed. Nyelbum pleads his poverty and ignorance, but he is judged harshly and dragged off to Hell to expiate his sins. Khimdag Palkyed lived a virtuous and enlightened life and is led to Nirvana.

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Monpa Goddess Mask

TITLE: Monpa Goddess Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Bhutan
SUBREGION: Eastern Bhutan
ETHNICITY: Monpa
DESCRIPTION: Hindu Goddess Mask
CATALOG ID: ASBT002
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Cham Dance
FUNCTION: Celebration; Entertainment
AGE: ca. 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: pigment

The Monpa people are a small ethnic group, estimated at around 78,000 persons, who inhabit Tibet, the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, and Bhutan.  They are a nomadic people who rely heavily on grazing herds for subsistence.  The Monpa are primarily Buddhist, and their masks are typically worn at monastery celebrations known as Cham Dances to bless the sowing of the grain, pray for a bountiful harvest, and entertain the public.  This mask, representing a Hindu goddess, demonstrates the syncretism of Buddhism and Hinduism in the region.

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Cham Yama

TITLE: Cham Yama
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Bhutan
ETHNICITY: Ngalop
DESCRIPTION: Yama (Raksha Lango)
CATALOG ID: ASBT001
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Tshechu – Cham Dance
FUNCTION: Celebration; Protection/Purification
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; dyed silk

The Tshechu is an annual religious festival held in Bhutan, held in different months depending on the region. Cham dance, an important part of the celebration, is a classical masked ritual performed by Himalayan Buddhist monks. Each mask and costume signifies a god, demon, human or animal spirit, or clown that entertains as it instructs in religious history, mythology, and morality, frequently based on stories from the lives of Buddhist masters. The dance is performed to traditional Tibetan music played by monks.

This mask represents Yama or Raksha Lango, the Hindu god of the underworld, who has been incorporated into east Asian Buddhism along with many other Hindu gods. He plays an important role in dances that purify the village and temple of evil spirits and protect them from bad omens.

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Bhutan 2015 – 20 ngultrum sheet

REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Bhutan
YEAR PRINTED: 2015
VALUE: 20 ngultrum x 6

This sheet of stamps form the greater part of a set of seven Hindu-Buddhist mask stamps issued by Bhutan in 2015 celebrating the Atsara, a masked clown with a comical red face who wields a giant phallus at Tsechu festivals. The character combines Buddhist wisdom and joy with pranks to emphasize the importance of forgetting the self and sexuality to parody the iniquitous.

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Bhutan 2015 – 40 ngultrum

REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Bhutan
YEAR PRINTED: 2015
VALUE: 40 ngultrum

This stamp is one of a set of seven Hindu-Buddhist mask stamps issued by Bhutan in 2015 celebrating the Atsara, a masked clown with a comical red face who wields a giant phallus at Tsechu festivals. The character combines Buddhist wisdom and joy with pranks to emphasize the importance of forgetting the self and sexuality to parody the iniquitous.

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Bhutan 1976 – 35 chetrum

REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Bhutan
YEAR PRINTED: 1976
VALUE: 35 chetrum

This stamp is one of a set of seven Hindu-Buddhist mask stamps issued by Bhutan in 1976.  These unusual stamps display a holographic image of the masks on a colorful background.  This one depicts the Hindu goddess Durga, a fierce warrior, or her incarnation as Kali, the goddess of destruction and symbol of time.

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Bhutan 1976 – 30 chetrum

REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Bhutan
YEAR PRINTED: 1976
VALUE: 30 chetrum

This stamp is one of a set of seven Hindu-Buddhist mask stamps issued by Bhutan in 1976.  These unusual stamps display a holographic image of the masks on a colorful background.  This one depicts the fierce guardian deity Mahakala (Beyond Time).

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