 Every year for at least ten days, Hindus across many parts of India celebrate the Dussehra festival. It is a universally acknowledged fact that the celebration of Dussehra is void without Ramlila. During this time episodes from Ramayana are performed, culminating in the death of Ravana and the burring of huge ogre effigies to symbolist the victory of good over evil.
The Ram Lila is publicly performed in many villages, towns and cities in India. Ramlila, the enactment of the story of Lord Ram is believed to have been started by great saint Tulsidas. His Ramcharitmanas, till today forms the basis of Ramlila performances. Ramlila is associated with the Vijayadashmi celebrations, in late September and early October.
The most famous of all is the Ramnagar Ramlilia of Varanasi. Started by the erstwhile Maharaja of Kashi in the most traditional style. The performances lasting for 31 days are marked by detailed dialogues and impressive enactments. Hundreds of sadhus called 'ramayanis' come to Ramanagar to watch and recite the epic.
Permanent structures are built and spaces designated to represent the main locales of the story i.e. Ashok Vatika, Janakpuri, Panchvati, Lanka etc., transforming the whole township into a vast Ramlila ground. The audience moves along with the performers with every episode to the next locale. To maintain the austere character of the Ramlila, electric lights, mikes and loudspeakers are not used, though the average audience is rarely less than ten thousand.
It is usually staged by amateur actors drawn from the same social grouping as the audience. There is often a singer (occasionally a priest) in the sidelines who recites relevant verses from the Ramayana during scene-changes or at moments of dramatic tension. These recitations and the narrative of the play are usually based on Gosvami Tulsidas' version of the Ramayana, in the Awadhi language. The dialog is improvised, and often responsive to audience reactions. Dhol drummers and other musicians participate. The atmosphere is usually festive and free, with the audience whistling and commenting as the story proceeds. Highly artistic masks are used in the ‘Ramlila’ which are generally made of papier-mâché, gilded copper and zari work. India Post issued a stamp Scott 605 depicting Mask of Ravan of Ramnagar Ramlila. Indo-Soviet joint issue of 1990 featured a scene from Ramlila Scott 1317. The stamps are as given in the image.
The Ramlila is staged in most countries that with Hindu populations that have origins in Northern India, Central India, Nepal or Pakistan. Outside the Indian subcontinent, this includes Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Guyana, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Great Britain, the United States, and Australia. Some Asian cultures have similar drama traditions based on the Ramayana, for instance the Phra Lak Phra Lam (Lak and Lam are the Laotian names for Lakshman and Ram, respectively) folk play of Laos and northeastern Thailand. Thai Post issued beautiful masks of Ramayana characters on its 1975 (Scott 737-740) depicting Ravan, Kumbhkarna, Ram and Hanuman and on 1981 (Scott 962-965) depicting Angad, Marich, Sugriv and Indrajeet. Laos also issued a set of Ramayana masks in 1997 (Scott 1336-1340).
About the Author:
Dr.Satyendra Kumar Agrawal
Received a Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India. He worked as Senior Research Fellow in ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) and is a well known cartoonist, science and philatelic writer. He earned several trophies and medals at National & International levels including GOLD for his exhibit (Stamp Collection) “ROSES”
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