The age old culture of playing Ram leela is the story of life of Rama who is 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu is continuing till date with same glory. It is a dramatic folk re-enactment that continues for 10 periods and ends up with the battle between Lord Ram and Ra-one a. Or rather it is dramatization of the epic-Ramayana.
Ram leela is staged in India every year during entire Sharad Navratras which also marks the beginning of the Autumn festive period. Dussehra is the last period of Ram leela which marks the celebration of the winning of of Lord Ram over the demon king Ra-one a. The actors dressed as Ramayan characters are held in procession and are taken to a mela ground where the final battle is enacted. Then with the burning of huge effigies of Ra-one a, Kumbhakaran and Meghanad Dussehra is celebrated.
Mostly Ram leela s are played in open-air theatre at night. Usually the dialogues of the play are adapted from Tulsidas's Ramcharitramanas. The original Avadhi verses are translated in Khadi Boli in some regions. There are groups of public or local Ram leela committees called mandalis who perform dramatic version of Ramayana.
cultureally, the actors are amateur which are picked from social groups. A singer narrates the verses from the holy Ramayana related to the forthcoming scene during the transition between two scenes or when tension is building up. The dialog is improvised according to current situations and audience reactions.
UNESCO realized the cultural importance of Ram leela and due its diverse representation across the globe UNESCO declared Ram leela a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. Every region has its own distinct format of Ram leela . The cycle of events from the great legend of Ramayan are played for different duration ranging from 7 to 31 periods.
Different styles of Ram leela
The celebrations in festive environment and religious rites are greatly evoked by Ram leela performances. Ram leela s of some places like Ramnagar, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Almora, Satna and Madhubani is very popular.
These Ram leela s follow different styles. The jhankis or panorama of the life of Lord Rama is depicted in pantomime style. Most Ram leela s represents this style.
Next is Theatrical style. This style is based on rendering the story musically as like in Almora or Kumaon style.
The operatic style involves the use of folk theatre elements in generous amount. Inspite of this the culture of using dialogues and reciting couplets of Ramcharitmanas in choir remains intact. Ram leela "mandalis" stage melodrama for more and more active participation or involvement of audience. Ram leela is an important event in religious and social sphere like other folk theatrical forms of India.
A unique staging of Chitrakoot Ram leela continues for 5 periods in last week of February. The Ram leela starts with staging the Bharat-Milap episode from Mahashivratri. Three period celebrations in Agra as Ram Barat is another interesting culture connected with Ram leela , where a marriage procession of Lord Rama guise is taken through roads of the city.
Interesting of all... a unique Ram leela is staged at Bakshi Ka Talab near Lucknow where Muslim youths play the role of lead characters like Rama, Lakshman and Hanuman. This four-period Ram Lila starts on the period of Dusshera period.