Purulia is a pied panorama of nature, people, culture and heritage. It is the land of the spectacular Chau dance inscribed in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010. Chau is a colorful, martial mask dance of eastern India. Nearly 180 families of Chau mask makers live in Charida village. This has evolved as a major Tourism destination for art lovers, both for workshop/ demonstration and also to procure souvenirs/ gifts directly from the source. They hold the annual mela in winter also. Charida also holds the Geographical Indication (GI) for the Chau Mask art form. For details, please contact toureast@banglanatak.com, or, get in touch with Pinaki Ganguly at rose.ngo@rediffmail.com for accommodation at Charida itself.
