The Naga Raksha, the cobra demon, is among the best-known of all Sri Lankan masks. A red face glares out from a fan of cobras, one rising straight up from the centre of the brow and several more spreading on each side, their pale banded bodies arching outward and their black heads raised.
The face. Bulging white eyes with black pupils sit under a fringed brow of orange, yellow and green. The mouth is carved open to show a row of white teeth, two curved fangs and a red tongue. The cobras' hoods are netted with fine scales in red, yellow, green and grey.
In tradition. In folklore the Naga Raksha is a demon able to take the form of a king cobra. It is one of the handful of Raksha forms still regularly carved and performed, and the naga itself has a long place in Sinhalese art as a guardian figure, carved on the guardstones at temple entrances. Read more about Raksha masks and the Kolam masked theatre of the south.
Construction. Carved from light wood as a hollow face with the cobra fans fitted to either side, and painted by hand.
Sizes. From 15 cm (6 in) to 45 cm (18 in) tall. Each piece is individually made, so colours and cobra patterns vary a little. For a denser, twin-cobra variation, see the Dwi Naga Raksha Mask.
