Ram Lila (Dr. Arun Verma) Dec. 2010 Jai Shri Ram! Background: Lord Ram is the seventh avatar of Vishnu. The King of Ayodhya. Born in Raghuvanshi dynasty. He is the Mryada Purshottam, Lord of virtue. The perfect human being. He is the husband of Sita ji, the avatar of Laxmi. The perfect embodiment of womanhood. The legend of Ram is deeply influential and popular in societies of the Indian subcontinent and across Southeast Asia. Lord Ram is revered for his unending compassion, courage and devotion to religious values and duty. Ram Lila is simply an enactment of the Epic Ramayana. It covers the complete life, values, principles and journey of Lord Ram. Question is Why do we enact it? The answer is that life and values of Lord Ram are the best lessens that one can learn in one s life. Ram Lila is the best visual treat and the learning experience in life. It is both entertaining and fun. This is especially true for children who find reading the Ramayana or the Ram Charitmanas cumbersome and dry. While they find Ram lila to be interesting and through this they absorb many things about culture and religion.
Moving from one episode of Ram s life to the next episode is like a pilgrimage to most Hindus and indeed worship in action. Ram Lila is celebrated across India not only by Hindus but by people of different religion. Many cities in India hold Ram lila annually from, 7, 10,14 or 31 days during the Sharad Navratri. Usually, the performances are timed to culminate on the festival of Vijay Dasmi or Dusshera. That culminates the victory of Lord Ram over the evil king Ravana, or the victory of Good over evil. The climax is the burning of the effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhkaran and son Meghnath. Most Ram Lila plays in India are based on the 16 th century Avadhi version of Ramcharitmanas. History: Historically it is believed that first Ram Lila plays were staged by Megha Bhagat, one of the disciples of Tulsi das. Although some scholars believe that Ram Lila first appeared somewhere between 1200 and 1500 AD prior to Ram Charitmanas. Nevertheless, it is safe to conclude that Ram Lila plays became more popular after Ram Charit manas was written in Avadhi as it could be understood by the masses as opposed to Ramayana the Sanskrit text. Styles of Ram Lila Several regions of India have developed their own distinctive forms of Ram Lila. I will cover a few of them. There are numerous variants in UP itself. Ram Lila there can be operatic, dramatic, or silent.
Ram Nagar: The most prominent one is that of Ram Nagar, 15 km. from Varanasi which is staged over multiple venues, the pantomime style is shown in Jhankis depicting scenes from Lord Ram s life and are taken throughout the city. This style was started by Kashi Naresh, Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh of Kashi in 1830, which are performed everyday for 31 days. In Ram Nagar permanent sets have been built and the entire town becomes a vast set for Ram Lila during Ram Lila time. Actually,the audience moves with the performers with each episode to various sets, such as janakpuri, panchvati, lanka, so on and so forth. This is the most extensive, best- performed Ram Lila which draws the largest audience, including hundreds of sadhus who are called Ramayanis. The Almora or Kumaon style of Ram Lila incorporates musical renderings of the Katha based on the theatrical style developed by Uday Shankar. Next is the operatic style which incorporates elements of folk theatre along with traditional style where the couplets of Ramcharitmanas not only act as dialogues but as chorus as well. Lastly there are Ramlila staged by professional troupes called Mandalis. A special way to present Ramlila in Rajasthan is through puppetry. In Karnataka, the Katakali dance with its elaborate masks and dress present the story of Ram in a silent theatre.
Ayodhya: Oh Yes, Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram. Here, the curtain never come down on Ram Lila. In Ayodhya Ram Lila has been going on for 6 years now for full 365 days/yr.. It is held at the Tulsi Smarak Bhavan by different Ram Lila troupes from various parts of the country. This Bhavan is an initiative of Ayodhya Reseach Institute an organization of the state s cultural department. Nearly 200 troupes have performed there since 2004. Each troupe performs for two weeks. Delhi: Our Capital Delhi; In Delhi the main venue of Ram Lila is at the Ram Lila Grounds or Maidan outside the Delhi Fort. This tradition was started during the time of the Mogul Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. The Delhi Ram Lila at the Ram Lila maidan is covered by radios and TV and is beamed to over 100 countries. Major politicians including the Prime Minister and President attend this important festival. This year Ram Lila was conducted in English so that foreigners attending the CWG could understand the play. For last 45 years Delhi s Shri Ram Bhartiya Kala Kendra s name is synonymous with the enacting of the annual Ram Lila. This is in the form of a ballet. Every year there are newer interpretations and efforts on the part of the organizers to make it more contemporary.
This ballet is performed through dynamic dance sequences, striking rhythmic patterns of footwork, ornamental hand gestures, facial expressions and body postures in a contextually appropriate manner unlike conventional presentation. It has built a great following where people view this spiritual and cultural extravaganza time and again. Modern Trends: With times Ram Lila has also gone hi- tech, specially in Delhi, showcasing India pre eminence in software and IT. Computer aided designs, laser technology assist the story of Lord Ram. Ram Lila committee at the Old Kotwali maidan e.g. use star wars between the rival armies of Shri Ram and Ravan. All in all there are 150 big Ram Lila and hundreds of small ones staged across the Indian capital during Navratri time. Political: People from other religions also take part in Ram Lila, the famous Ram Lila of Buxi Ka Talab near my home town Lucknow is organized and managed by Muslims. Many Muslim also engage in preparing dresses for the actors while many others can recite couplets from Ram Charitmanas. The most prominent in recent times is our former President Abdul Kalam who recites couplets from Ramcharitmanas and Bhagwat Gita with as much ease as from Quran. Geographic spread Let me now move on to Ram Lila in different countries. Over the centuries, Ram Lila has evolved and has travelled to the far corners of the globe, through India disapora. Ram Lila is staged in most countries that have Hindu population from the Indian
subcontinent including Nepal, Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Canada, Surinam, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobaggo, UK, US and Australia, you name it. In addition to that, some Asian cultures have similar drama traditions which are based on the epic Ramayana. Ram is revered by people throughout Indochina who otherwise adhere to Buddism and Islam. His regal bearing and fighting prowess is emulated in various Indian and south east Asian martial arts. The Rama Lila is performed across Southeast Asia in numerous local languages and the story is the subject of art, architecture, music, folk dance and sculpture. LAOS For instance the Phra Lak and Phra Lam ( Lak and Lam are the Laotian names for Laxman and Ram respectively) are the folkplay of Laos, where story of Ram is told as the previous birth of Buddha. MALAYSIA In Malaysia the story of Ram is told in its version of a book called Hikayat Seri Ram. CAMBODIA In Cambodia the plays take the story from the Cambodian version of Ramayana called Reamker, which is the most popular story of Khmer literature. It is not only confined to literature but extends to all Cambodian art form such as sculpture and the Khmer classical dance theatre known as Lakhorn Luany, which is the foundation for their Royal Ballet.
THAILAND Thailand s popular national epic Ramakien ( literally Glory of Rama) is adopted for many stage performances. While the story of Ramkien is similar to that of Ramayana many aspects have been adopted in Thai context, e.g. clothes,weapons, and topograpgy. Ram Lila scenes are also depicted in various temples of Thailand and Cambodia. Influence of Ramayana and Ram Lila is enormous in Thailand. The ancient capital city of Ayutthaya in Thailand is a tribute to the ancient Thai kingdom and the great legend of Ramkien. The kings in Thailand are called Rama. The current king is Rama the IX. The royal coat of arms have Garuda as the symbol. INDONESIA In Indonesia, Kakawin Ramayan is an old Javanese version written in the 9 th century, is a mixture of Sanskrit and prose Javanese language. Ramayana is integrated into local culture of Javanese, Balinese and Sudanese and is a source of moral, spiritual guidance as well as aesthetic expression and entertainment. Cultural performances as Waynang shadow puppet and dances of various stories from Kakawin Ramayana are a staple part of Indonesian culture. A Buddhist version of the tale is found in the Jataka stories as well. Vision in Houston; First of all let me thank everyone in Houston who assisted in the Ram Lila 2010. The vision of the Ram Lila 2010 team was to : 1) Glorify Lord Ram and enhance our own spirituality. 2) Re- live the experience that all of us went through while living in India
3) Introduce the right way to live ; teach our religion & vedic culture to our children born in the US through participation and visual observation of the life of Lord Ram. We had over 60 children in the play. Our expectation for next year is to consolidate and improve upon what we achieved this year and take the play to next higher level of perfection. There are several other concepts which we hope to develop further with time. The vision in Houston is still unfolding, and your input and participation is welcome. Thanks! Jai Shri Ram!