The village of Mahisbathan in the Kushmandi district of West Bengal is popular for its colourful wooden masks, or mukhas. These masks play an important role in the cultural heritage of the Rajbongshi (also known as Rajbanshi) tribe. They enhance the mystique of their age-old dance form, the Gomira dance, a mesmerising ritual thought to ward off evil. In local parlance, Gomira comes from the term gram chandi, which means female deity. Dance troupes plan these performances at least once a year during the months of Baisakh, Jyesta, and Asarh in the Bengali calendar.

Earlier, these masks were made from the wood of neem tree. Now, artisans use wood sourced from local trees such as gamar tree or mango, pakur, kadam, and teak. A log of wood is first cut, then split into blocks and immersed in water to make it soft. Artisans use a broad chisel and hammer to carve out the shape of the mask. The masks are then smoothened out with sandpaper and painted with natural dyes. The most common color, black, is derived from the fruits of the basatbot tree or jia tree. Red comes from the leaves of teak, green from sheem, and purple from jamun.

This tradition was certified with a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2018.

There are two prominent centres for crafting Gomira masks. These are Kushmandi, located in Dakshin Dinajpur, and Kaliyaganj, in Uttar Dinajpur. Around 250 artists live in these two regions.

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