Reba Kanta Mahanta
The head of Khatpar Sattra in Sivasagar and a master of Sattriya mask-making, whose masks are in museums worldwide, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
In mukha bhaona, the actors in Assam’s Vaishnava dance-dramas wear masks of gods, demons and animals. Reba Kanta Mahanta has made such masks all his life. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of art, from Assam [1].
Head of a sattra
Mahanta was born on 19 April 1935 and learned mask-making and mukha bhaona from his father, who headed the Khatpar Sattra in Sivasagar [2]. He is now its sattradhikar [2]. He also helped found a girls’ high school, where he taught until retiring as headmaster in 1996 [2].
Masks for the world
His masks are held by the Indian Museum in Kolkata, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and museums abroad, including in Russia, Japan and Australia [2]. In 2016 Tezpur University acquired a huge Narasimha mask from him, and in 2017 he built a welcome gate of masks at Guwahati airport [2]. He runs a museum of Sattriya artefacts, instruments and masks at his sattra [2].
He has performed bhaona across India, including at the 2010 Commonwealth Games cultural festival [2]. He received the Shilp Guru award from the Ministry of Textiles in 2008 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for Reba Kanta Mahanta — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 12 October 2026.
Last updated . First draft prepared with AI assistance; reviewed and fact-checked by a person before publishing. Report a correction
