Ramayan Uninterrupted

The Anvarat or continuous Ramleela of Ayodhya will be completing six years on Wednesday.

Written by EXPRESS FEATURES SERVICE
May 19, 2010 06:16 AM IST

2 min read

The Anvarat or continuous Ramleela of Ayodhya will be completing six years on Wednesday. Bringing some of the best known styles of Ramleela or the story of Lord Ram on a single platform,the Anvarat Ramleela will mark its anniversary through performance by Narvdehar Adarsh Ramleela Mandal from Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh. Beginning from May 20,2004,the Anvarat Ramleela has also been recorded by the UNESCO under the documentation of Intangible Heritage. In the last six years,the Ramleela has seen 35 styles being staged at the Tulsi Smarak Bhawan,the venue,at Ayodhya. These include the multi-country Ramleela of the Shriram Kala Kendra New Delhi (which featured an Indonesian Sita),the famous Puppet Ramleela from Udaipur,the Daspalla Ramleela from Orissa known for its elaborate costumes and poetic style,Madhubani Ramleela,Awadhi Ramleela,the Bagheli Ramleela from Madhya Pradesh and Ramleela from Sitamarhi. Each style is staged by troupes from these regions in 15 episodes over 15 days.

Organised by the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan,a unit of the Uttar Pradesh department of Culture,the Anvarat Ramleela has been praised and recognised by the Trinidad University too. Talking about the Ramleela,the director of the Sansthan Dr YP Singh said,Its been our effort to save the Ramleela and create an awareness about this art form. So far,we have called troupes from all over India and some of them have been repeated on popular demand. We have been video documenting their styles as well and have created our own databank.