Purulia is a barren and hilly district of West Bengal lying towards the west at the border of Bihar. It is covered at places by dense forests leaving small pockets here and there for agriculture. Rainfall is inadequate and life is extremely difficult. The people who live there are mostly aboriginals and semiaboriginals: they speak a western dialect of Bengali, generally known as Kurmali: as the people are known as Kurmis. Among this people there is prevalent a form of dance known as the Chhau dance … ritualistic in character, and performed ceremonially during the last days of the Bengali year on the occasion of the annual worship of the popular Sun-God…. Every performance starts with the invocation of Ganesha…