(Audrey) We’re in the middle of holiday season right now in Delhi. More exactly, we’re in the middle the the Navratri festival, a 10 day affair that includes (amongst many other things), Ramlilas that are being staged across India during this period, 85 in Delhi alone.
Ramlila literally means “Ram’s play” or “Ram’s story”, and specifically denotes a 10-day play committed to telling the story of Ram or Rama, one of the great heros of Indian literature, culture, and religions. To give a bit of background–Rama is the main protagonist in one of the two great Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana (akin to the Iliad or Odyssey in the West). Since it’s originally composition somewhere around 2,000 years ago, the tale has been retold countless times in all Indian vernaculars. The Ramayana is well-known by all Indians, and it’s often said that no Indian ever hears the story of Rama for the first time, only retellings over and over. If you don’t know the story of Rama, I highly recommend it for interesting reading. For books, the best introduction is the short and sweet, highly readable version by R.K. Narayan. If you’re more of a movie person, a film came out last year that tells the story in a highly entertaining manner… and it’s fully available online here and here.
But to get back to the Ramlila—Ramlilas are theatrical presentations of the Rama story over the course of 10 nights. The plays run a few hours every night, generally starting around 8ish. We went to one of the more famous ones in Old Delhi and saw quite a show. First there was the procession in of all the actors on carts pulled by a variety of cows and tractors.
The carts all had lights (lots and lots of neon lighting), but apparently battery power was not to be had at this event, so instead every cart was followed by a noisy generator.
And, I suppose in a concession to modernity, each cart had a corporate sponsor–you gotta love it.
After the parade, we sat down to watch the show. Everybody else had tickets (I’ve no idea how you get one), but here’s where being white in India really comes in handy. We not only waltzed in, no problem, but within 5 minutes were escorted by a police officer out of the normal seating into the VIP section, which features covered, cushioned couches and much legroom.
After some time the show began. It was all in Hindi so we couldn’t really follow the dialogue, but I know the story so I was able to keep Thane apprised of the major developments. Suffice to say that it was a bit low tech and they made up for it by blasting music and dialogue so loud I am now, in all likelihood, partially deaf. Check out the “peacocks” here in the purple get-ups.
In any case, Ramlila will come up again next week as Monday is the big conclusion—the burning of Ravana effigies that embodies the victory of good over evil. More on that when it happens…
September 28, 2009 at 4:26 pm |
[...] holiday that coincides with the final night of Ramlila, a theatrical retelling of the Ramayana (see previous post). In the evening, we went to the final act, which features Ram, the hero, slaying Ravan, the enemy. [...]