Ramlila continues to enthral hill villagers

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, October 2

Villages in hilly districts have come alive with Ramlila performances by amateur stage artistes reciting verses from the legendary epic Ramayana, the life story of Lord Rama written by Rishi Valmiki in Sanskrit, and Ramchritmanas by Goswami Tulsidas in Avadhi and in the Garhwali dialect by local authors across Garhwal region.

The Ramlila stage plays begin 15 days prior to Dasehra. At Uttarkashi, Ramlila is being enacted for the past several decades with finesse and enthusiasm.

Bhupesh Kudiyal, secretary of the Adarsh Ramlila Committee, says various innovative ways are used to attract people and the new electronic technology such as cable TV helps them to transmit scenes from the stage to homes across Uttarkashi. A mixture of Garhwali dialect makes the concoction enjoyable to the young audience, says Kudiyal.

Foreign tourists visiting Uttarkashi are spellbound to find people cheering their iconic heroes perform various tasks on the stage. The contribution from members of various communities, including Muslims, plays an important part in the success of the Ramlilas in Uttarkashi, added Kudiyal.

The characters Ravana, Sugreev, Baali and the most adorable Hanuman bind the audience that belonging to different caste, creed and religion together bring joy to the tourist who have come to see the culture of the country, adds Kudiyal. The sense of communal brotherhood is evident from the fact that Tasdik Khan, a Muslim, donates around two quintal of apple for the artistes performing the much loved scene of Hanuman rampaging Ashok Vatika and putting Lanka the kingdom of Ravana in flames, the first reported surgical strike in foreign land by Indian, says a senior journalist from Uttarkashi.

Farmers from the apple belt of Harsil donate quintals of apple to the Ramlila Committee that acts as an opportunity for the local artistes to display their talent between the change of scenes.

Ilam Singh, a government employee, who is playing the role of Ravana for the past 20 years, says that Ramlila has disappeared from big urban areas but people like him have been able to continue the tradition despite meagre financial support .

At villages namely Dhamadi, Lawani, Bansul, Kosal, the Ramlilas have been integral part of the society for the past 30 years.

However, the Ramlila committees do face some problem of migration as many artistes leave the village for greener pastures and they have to look for new faces and groom them accordingly, says Chandar Prakash the coordinator of the Ramlila at Dhamadi village this year.

Presently Gokul Kemwal is playing the role of Hanuman which was played by an elderly who is unable to act due to ill health. Mukesh Kemwal has been playing the role of Lakshmana in the past eight years but Ram Prakash is playing the role of Sita as the earlier artiste had left the village in search of job, says Chandra Prakash.

At Mussoorie, the Ramlila is no longer staged so widely as witnessed earlier. RD Gupta one of the organiser of the Ramlila committee says earlier around three Ramlilas used to take place simultaneously at different markets of the town but all has stopped due to advent of new means of entertainment and lack of interest among the youths towards Ramlila. Former MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, who is known for his role as Ravana, remembers the day when residents of the town used to contribute to the Ramlila. The absence of grounds and different priorities have changed all that, says Gunsola. But the Garhwali rendition of the Ramyana still being practised in villages is a welcome sight as it will help in preservation of the Garhwali culture, says Gunsola.

A big draw in Haridwar

Haridwar: A sizeable turnout  is being witnessed at numerous Ramlila being staged in the city and its  periphery. A good number of people are witnessing Ramlila till midnight in Haridwar, Kankhal, Jwalapur, BHEL and Jagjeetpur. In the recent years, Ramlila artistes are using better costumes, and have good sets, sound and light system and sitting arena attracting more audience. Bharat, alias Nanu, who is portraying the character of Lord Rama at the Ramlila at Ramnagar in suburban Jawalpur, said the presence of a large number of audience motivates artistes and they try to perform their best. Mayor Manoj Garg and city legislator Madan Kaushik are being invited to various Ramlilas. — TNS