Our ancestors, who left Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other areas of India over 181 years ago to work as indentured labourers, had very few material possessions in their jahaji bundle. But their minds and hearts were storehouses of their Dharma.
They found their religious, spiritual, mental and emotional support from the Ramayana, and as they carved their space in a new land, they used their religious and cultural practices as a bastion in an unforgiving and hostile environment. One of these practices was the Ramleela festival.
The Ramleela celebration has, over the years, shifted its focus from adult Hindu participants to include thousands of children in the Maha Sabha School network.
Over the years, emphasis was placed in the school system, in which both teachers and parents are actively involved. The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, however, decided to rely on the resident expertise among Hindus who have been celebrating Ramleela here for more than 150 years. Ramleela serves not only to re-establish the moral, spiritual and religious code of conduct of our children, but is in keeping with the curriculum of the Ministry of Education.
Ramleela is a vehicle that can be used to implement subjects in the curriculum as established by the ministry. Ramleela allows for the integrated and thematic approach to teaching art, craft, music, dance, drama, poetry, social studies, mathematics, language arts and religious and moral education amongst other areas.
Ramleela, literally “Rama’s play,” is a performance of the Ramayan epic in the form of a series of scenes that include song, narration, recital and dialogue.
This sacred text to the glory of Rama, the hero of the Ramayan, was composed by Tulsidas in the 16th century, depicting various experiences of Lord Rama, an avatar of Bhagavan Vishnu. It re-traces the footsteps of Shri Rama as He leaves Ayodhya in Northern India and traverses across the country through the central regions, then into South India and then finally, it celebrates his return to Ayodhya, his home city.
Ramleela usually commences in the bright half of the month of Ashwin (September-October), and it continues for 11 days. It starts with the performance of pooja by a pandit and then every evening, from about 5 to 8 o’clock, the pandit and other qualified persons will narrate a different part of the Ramayana (usually in Hindi), followed by English explanations. Simultaneously, actors with elaborate costuming and props reawaken characters who walked this earth more than 5,000 years ago.
The construction and erection of Rawan, the Demon King of Hinduism, over the years have grown larger in size and more complex in construction, after reaching a size of more than 75 feet, fabricated out of steel, rather than bent into shape with bamboo. It is a prelude to the annual Ramleela season. Normally, the Ramleela celebrations are held in open savannahs, but over the years, the Maha Sabha has introduced Ramleela throughout its 60 schools. Thousands of children, with their parents, are taught the religious story of Lord Rama and Rawan, which is contained in the Hindu religious text, the Ramayan.
Hundreds of festivals are organised in each town or village celebrating Rama’s return from exile. Ramleela is particularly focused on recalling the battle between Rama and Ravana and consists of a series of dialogues between the gods, sages and the faithful.
The cycle of plays culminates with Divali, the Festival of Light. The moment when the effigy of Ravana is burned symbolises the victory of good over evil. The play is also characterised by the spontaneity with which all the villagers participate, playing roles or taking part in all kinds of activities involved in the performances, such as making the masks, costumes, doing the make-up, effigies, lights, etc.
Historically, it is believed that the first Ramleela shows were staged by Megha Bhagat, one of the disciples of Tulsidas, the author of Ramayan, in about 1625 AD.
It would be safe to conclude that Ramleela’s explosion into the Hindi heartland of India, happened only after Tulsidas created his version in the people’s language of the time, the ‘Avadhi’ language, unlike the original written by Valmiki in Sanskrit, the language only spoken by Brahmins and excluded much of the masses from experiencing the inspirational saga of the victory of good over evil in the Ramleela portrayals.
