Folk dance and local ecologies: ethnographic explorations on the Chhau mask makers of Charida, West Bengal

Multiple forms of folk traditions in India demonstrate how nature, culture, and livelihoods are deeply intertwined with each other, blurring concrete boundaries that separate material from nonmaterial benefits and tangible from intangible heritage. Shedding light on the Chhau dancing community and mask makers of Charida—the renowned Chhau mask village of West Bengal, we explore how nature-culture interactions and their dynamic relationship have shaped the use of local ecologies in mask production and probe into the involvement of actors and networks that shape the Chhau dance form. By deeply engrossing into ethnographic realms of the field and embracing a wide range of methods from focus group discussions, key informant interviews, participatory rural appraisal, and participatory appraisal of natural resources, transect walk and oral history, we unwrap nonlinearities influencing nature-culture-livelihood interface and lay out the larger rationale behind the significance of place-based narratives to apprise overarching theories and frameworks on ecological sustainability