|
The
Ramlila also involves almost as many people in its ambit
as the Big Two festivals so beloved of the photographic
community - Holi and Diwali. It is of course predominantly
a Hindi speaking audience that it appeals to, but that runs
into many hundreds of millions in India and they have scattered
all over the country making it a truly pan-Indian festival.
The Ramlila is the run-up to the grand climax of a harvest
festival called Dussera. Ostensibly to celebrate the return
of the God-King Rama from exile, it is really an even older
thanksgiving festival that includes Diwali, the festival
of lamps as its culmination. The Ramlila ends on Vijaya
Dashami - the day of victory when Rama defeats the Demon
King Ravana.
Which is a good point to get into the story of the plays.
The story of Rama is part of the cultural unconscious of
India and there are at least 32 different versions of it
extant. Nobody goes to a Ramlila to see a new play, the
action proceeds on well-understood grooves of tradition.
Rather people go to view the Ramlila in an act of sympathetic
magic, by witnessing the trials and tribulations of the
god-hero, they too emerge purged of the baser emotions and
confident of rising above the trials of fate.
The
core skeleton-story is simple. Rama is the avatar of Vishnu,
born to King Dasaratha of Ayodhya. He proves his perfect
nature at an early age and is a public favourite to succeed
the king to the throne at an early age. By sixteen he has
performed many supernatural acts of valour and he has also
married the most beautiful woman in the world, Sita. When
the time for his coronation is near, one of his father's
other wives begins to get worried that he may prove less
than filial to her son, a legitimate worry actually given
the nature of the times. She invokes a long forgotten boon
granted her by Dasaratha, and forces the old king to banish
his eldest son to the forest for 14 years while the throne
would go to her son, Bharata. Rama leaves cheerfully, he
hated the joyless business of administration anyway, accompanied
by his wife and half -brother, Lakshmana.
Back at Ayodhya, the father dies of a broken heart and Bharata
refuses to accept a throne that was gained by deceiving
an elder brother he worshipped as a god. Rama however refuses
to come back, the word and decision of a king cannot be
seen to be altered so lightly, it would cause a total lack
of faith to percolate amongst the people. Bharata rules
as regent for Rama, who lives the usual hero life in the
forest, killing off demons and making friends with the forest
dwellers. One of these exploits however turns nasty as his
brother Lakshaman drives off a too-impetuous demoness who
got the hots for Rama. (Sorry about the phrasing... but
that is literally what was happening, as can be seen in
both the Valmiki and Kamban versions). She carries her wounds
and inflammatory tales to the demon king Ravana, her brother.
Ravana is a superman of sorts, a supreme scholar and warrior,
who has routed the very gods themselves and has no serious
rival in all the planes of existence. It was to kill this
magnificent personification of evil that Rama took his avatar.
Ravana's fatal flaw comes to fore, he can never resist behaving
like a bandit when he hears of a beautiful woman anywhere.
He kidnaps Sita when the men are away, and is amazed that
this woman will not fall into his arms like all the others.
He is completely fascinated by that and realizes that forcing
her to his whim is a defeat. He gives her a time-limited
choice - either she marries him or he eats her! Rama makes
friends with the monkey-king Sugriva and gains as his personal
assistant the most lovable character in all Hindu mythology,
the great Hanuman. Immortal, strong as the wind, wiser than
the wisest and yet always an impish monkey at heart, Hanuman
leads a search for Sita and they come back with news of
her location. Rama builds a bridge across the ocean to Ravana's
island stronghold Lanka and attacks.Blinded by lust and
secure in his apparent invulnerability Ravana sends his
people out to die in lemming-like waves of futility. Finally
he too is made to bite the dust, Rama having learnt the
secret of his destruction from Ravana's brother, Vibhishana,
who defected in a bid to save at least some members of the
demon race from annihilation.
After crowning Vibhishana at Lanka, Rama returns to Ayodhya
with his wife and brother in a flying chariot, just in time
to take over as his exile period ends. It is worth noting
that my mythological explorations led me to an Old Irish
tale called The story of Maeve, and to my consternation,
it was the same Ramayana story with minor variations of
name and character. Archetypal stories are capable of turning
up anywhere.
This
is the core of the Ramlila story and endless variations
thereof will be played out. The text of the play is usually
the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a Hindi dialect version
that is immensely popular all over the north of India. The
plays go on for a week to ten days and they last the entire
night. Many conventions have evolved as a consequence of
this. The lead role of Rama is very often played by a pre-pubertal
boy, as the culture considers an awareness of sexuality
to be the beginning of the loss of original innocence. The
main characters are deferred to by the public as though
they are literally divine. Acting skill is not called for
as they are enacting archetypes. In many cases that means
the wearing of masks, rather like the ancient Greek theatre,
which can weigh upto seven kilos. Glitter, overstatement,
the shameless milking of every maudlin sentiment possible
and melodrama of a variety that is never seen anywhere else
characterise even the most basic of productions. All in
all, it is a blast for the audience, but it is noteworthy
that the productions never question any of the basic issues
of being human, (unlike the better versions of the Ramayana)
- it primarily reinforces the value systems and beliefs
the audience holds. That is what they come for and that
is what they get!
In Banaras city, also known as Kashi, there is an entire
twenty square kilometre area called Ramnagar, the city of
Rama, and the play is staged over its expanse. What makes
this unique is that various sections of Ramnagar are named
after the locations of the play itself, and the action takes
place in that spot and nowhere else. A Lanka episode takes
place in Lanka and if you have to then go to the monkey
king's capital Kishkinda, for the next episode, why then
you physically move players and audience and all. The entire
mass of humanity will move barefoot to the next location
and that very act of locomotion is counted as punya, the
earning of merit. What you have here is the recreation of
a sacred space within the parameters of an interactive theatre.
To the best of my knowledge this is unique to the entire
world.
The
Ramlila may not appeal to sophisticates, and it may be very
poor theatre, but it is a vital part of the festival calendar
for millions of Hindus every year. It is regarded as a great
privilege to be capable of seeing the Ramlila every year,
the equivalent of a pilgrimage. It definitely fulfills some
urgent spiritual need in a great mass of people and for
that reason if nothing else it is secure as a living tradition.
|
