Varaha Cheriyal Mask – Hand-painted Telangana Folk Art

Varaha, the boar-headed form Vishnu took to rescue the earth goddess Bhudevi from the depths of a cosmic ocean, is the third of the ten Dashavatara and one of the less commonly rendered outside temple sculpture. Finding it as a Cheriyal mask at all is something of a rarity — this mask is part of the same roughly 400-year-old set made by Nakashi artisans in Cheriyal village, near Warangal in Telangana, alongside the more frequently requested Rama, Sita, and Hanuman figures.

The mask is built the traditional way: tamarind seed paste and sawdust shaped over a wooden core, dried over several days, coated in white lime, then hand-painted using natural pigments, with the tusks, snout, and facial features worked in by hand. This craft earned its Geographical Indication tag in 2010, and today continues through only a small number of practising Nakashi families.

Because Varaha is depicted far less often than Vishnu's more commonly recognised avatars, this mask particularly suits a serious collector of Dashavatara iconography or Vaishnavite art, rather than a general decorative buyer looking for a more familiar deity figure.

Material: Tamarind seed powder, sawdust, cotton cloth, natural colours

Dimensions: 7.5 inches x 7 inches x 2.25 inches