panjurli-Bhuta Mask Copper Alloy India, Karnataka, Tulu Nadu region

A panjurli-bhuta mask, the tongue extended and a tiny cobra crawling along it, wearing large circular earrings with central motifs of a devotee in the left and an elephant on the right and an aureole of raised cobra heads indicating the bhuta's power. 

The bhuta (spirit) is invoked in a highly stylized version of the ritual dance (bhuta kola) of the spirit impersonator during a theatrical production in which a world of supernatural beings is created by dancers adorned in colorful costumes including masks such as this depicting various divine beings. The Panjurli (boar) comes from the spirits of totemic origin, the others being the bull and the tiger, and this example is impressive and powerful. For a comparable see Brian A. Dursum, Change and Continuity: Folk and Tribal Art of India, Florida, 1998, p. 38, fig. 62.