A painted wooden mask from Sri Lanka. Masks like this were worn in the Sanni Yakuma, a ritual held to drive away the demons that people believed caused illness. The Science Museum Group holds one made between 1771 and 1900.
Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.
The Science Museum Group collection holds a painted wooden Sanni mask from Sri Lanka, made between 1771 and 1900. Its record explains that masks like this were worn in the Sanni Yakuma ritual, to drive away demons that were believed to cause disease.
To verify: The object number and the exact wording of the Science Museum record
The masks were made for the Sanni Yakuma, a ritual held for people who were ill. Masked performers set out to drive away the demons that people believed had brought the illness.
To verify: Whether each mask shows one of the demons, called sanni, and how many there are; our files do not say; Whether each demon was linked with a different illness; How often the ritual is still held today
Sanni masks are now carved for visitors and sold to hang on the wall. They began as ritual objects, so we show the mask as part of a Sri Lankan ritual for the sick, and make no claim about health.
