With no funding and leftover debts from last year's Ramleela celebrations, the Palmiste and Environs Drama and Visual Arts Society (Pandavas) could have cancelled their 2018 celebrations at Palmiste Park. But at the last moment, they decided not to.
At a meeting last week, the group decided to do a scaled-down version of the usually grand celebrations so that they would not disappoint fans. The show started on Friday night and attracted hundreds of people.
In an interview during the event, Pandavas' PRO Meldan Seepersad said its been 18 years since he and his best friends, Vivek Maharaj, Amrit Ramsamooj, Harnarine Ramsamooj and Aneil Ramsamooj, started the Ramleela celebrations, which depict the saga of the Hindu God Lord Rama.
Members of the Khalnayak Academy of Dance perform during the Pandavas Ramleela at Palmiste Park on Saturday.
Krstian De Silva
To mark the period of Divali, the Pandavas team re-enacts Ram and his wife Sita’s return to their kingdom in northern India after being exiled following the defeat of demon king Ravanna. Thousands of deyas were lit to commemorate Ram's return to his kingdom and Seepersad said if they had cancelled the celebration, Divali in South Trinidad would not have been the same.
He said in the year 2000 when he was just 10 years old, he and his friends would do the re-enactment using the lights of his father's car. That year, Maharaj's father, Pundit Vishnu Maharaj, fell asleep in the park while they were doing Yatra Hanuman prayers and dreamt he saw Ram and Hanuman were playing in the park.
"He told us that we will do Ramleela in the park and we started with nothing," Seepersad said.
Lord Shiva, portrayed by Harnarine Ramsamooj and Lord Shiva’s wife Sati, portrayed by Shalini.
Kristian De SIlva
Today, the Pandavas recreates the Ramayan skit. Booths are also set up along the park offering food and goods for sale. The show also features local and foreign artistes who sing East Indian devotional songs.
Seepersad said because of the cost constraints they scaled down the size of the stage, lighting and the sound system. Saying it costs almost $500,000 to do the portrayal, he said costumes are purchased from India.
"We don't sew costumes like we did before. It is cheaper to buy them. We have been going door to door to get sponsorship and we came up with zero, zero, zero. We started rehearsals three weeks ago. It is mainly the same cast for the key roles, but we will do our best to make the show as grand as possible," Seepersad said.
Khalnayak Academy of Dance’s Andrea Mangaroo puts on gungaroos before her performance.
Krisitna De Silva
He added that unlike other Divali celebrations, there is no profit in hosting the show.
Asked whether they got any funding from Government, Seepersad said no. He said the funds given to the National Council for Indian Culture for the Divali Nagar do not filter down to the community temples.
"There is no Ramleela like ours. This is the first part of the Caribbean that Ramleela is done like this," he added.
The Ramleela celebrations will continue until October 23, when the giant effigy of Ravanna is set on fire.