Maru Raksha mask Sri Lanka. Early 20th century Wood, carved and painted. Height 108 cm. lnv. No.4486 II Received in 1965 from the Museum of Toys, Zagorsk. First publication. Masks appeared in Sri Lanka marty centuries ago, first as accessories to religious rites and then as attributes of folk games and dances. Mask-making is a hereditary craft; there are families in which this craft has been practised for several centuries. On both sides of the central figure, representing the demon of death Maru Raksha, there are compositions of 18 Sanni masks (9 on each side); these are images of demons inflicting various diseases. For example, Kora Sanni (the mask with a distorted face) personifies a paralitic; Biri Sanni, a deaf person (one part of his face is screened by a cobra, a symbol of deafness), etc. (via The Museum of Oriental Art Moscow (-))