State culture secretary NN Sinha inagurates a computer class for educated tribals at Kalamandir in Ranchi. Sinha also released a music album of tribal folk songs and a bi-monthly news bulletin, Mandar. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, July 23: The state art and culture department has discovered a new variant of Chhau, a tribal dance, which does not involve the mask and involves dialogue between the dancers.

The new style, known as Sinjua, is practised in Ranchi district?s Khunti block.

Sinjua is different from other known styles ? classical-based and use of masks ? as it is based on mythology and does not use masks.

Experts of art and culture were aware of four forms of Chhau ? Seraikela, Kharsawan, Manbhum and Mayurbhanj ? until the discovery.

Out of these, only Seraikela and Kharsawan styles are popular, with artistes receiving wide recognition from the government since Jharkhand was formed out of Bihar five years ago.

State art and culture secretary N.N. Sinha, who was in the city to take part in the release of a tribal folk video, said that the finding was made after a year of research by the experts of the department.

The secretary was in the city to participate in the launch of Jhumurer Tale Tale by Delhi-based IPM Films.

The discovery of Sinjua, said Sinha, means that Chhau is not limited to Seraikela-Kharsawan in Jharkhand, Orissa?s Mayurbhanj and Ranchi.

Sinha, said experts in the department had managed to identify the new form of Chhau after a long drawn out process.

?It was after a long and relentless effort by experts from the department and Chhau artists of state that we managed to discover the fifth form,? said Sinha.

He told The Telegraph that after scrutinising all the claims and counter claims made by experts and Chhau artists, the department has also zeroed in on an exponent of Sinjua.

?We have managed to identify the lone surviving guru Punchu Munda. In the next few days we will start the documentation of the art from so that the dance form continues,? said Sinha.

The secretary said the government would try and provide some means of sustenance to the guru and artists willing to learn the new style of the tribal dance.

Member of East Zone Culture Centre, Kamal Bose, confirmed the discovery of the fifth form of Chhau from Khuti the state?s Khunti region.

?This is a unique form of Chhau where the artists do not use the mask for which the dance is widely recognised. Another important thing that makes Sinjua different from other forms is use of dialogue. In other forms of Chhau there is no dialogue between the performers,? said Bose.