Nepal Chandra Sutradhar
A Purulia Chhau dancer and mask maker whose ten-headed mask was bought by the National Museums of Scotland, honoured posthumously with the Padma Shri in 2024.
Nepal Chandra Sutradhar was a dancer and mask maker of Purulia Chhau, the masked dance of West Bengal. He was named posthumously for the Padma Shri in 2024 in the field of art, from West Bengal [1].
Dancer and craftsman
He was born on 5 August 1939 and went to school in Tunturi [2]. From the age of 12 he trained under the Chhau guru Gambhir Singh Mura and devoted his life to the dance and to making its masks [2].
On the world stage
Sutradhar performed and led mask-making workshops in India and abroad, in countries including the USA, Scotland and New Zealand [2]. In 1997 he took part in the North American Bengali Conference in Philadelphia, including at the Philadelphia Museum of Art [2].
In 2001 the Scottish India Arts Forum invited him to Edinburgh for a Dussehra festival project [2]. The ten-headed mask he made during the workshop was bought by the National Museums of Scotland [2]. In 2007 he performed at Diwali festivals in Auckland and Wellington [2].
Honours
He received the Kala Mani award at the Surajkund Crafts Mela in 2008 and recognition from the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 2019 [2].
He died on 4 November 2023 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2024: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 15 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2024: citation for Nepal Chandra Sutradhar — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 15 October 2026.
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