“Ramcharitmanas” was written by Goswami Tulsidas in Awadhi language in verse, the prevalent style of literary works during the Mughal rule. But its later stage-versions including the Parsi theatre versions adopted dialogues written in prose, as ‘khadi boli’ became the lingua franca of the masses in the Hindi-speaking belts of North India. The beauty of verse, however, again attracted many a writer to create adaptations of “Ramcharitmanas” in poetic forms in many local dialects in different parts of North India.
At least three different Ramlilas are known to have been created in verse in the last two centuries, in places as far as Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand, small village of Patoonda near Kota in Rajasthan, and the areas around Rohtak in Haryana (including bordering areas of Alwar district in Rajasthan). These three Ramlilas are altogether different from each other in their presentation style. But the common thing among these three is the use of local folk-music and story-telling traditions.
Kumaoni Ramlila: Recognised as the longest opera in the world, this Ramlila originated in Almora in the hills of Kumaon around one 150 years back. Kumaoni Ramlila has been given place in the world cultural heritage list of the UNESCO. As is common with any local or folk art-form, origin of this Ramlila is hotly debated upon. It incorporates the elements of Nautanki, Naach, Jatra, Rasleela, etc. in its performance. Sung in the Bhimtali tarj, and incorporating the folk elements like maand of Rajasthan, it also bases itself heavily on the classical Hindustani music.
Bihag is used by Dashrath, when he wants to please Kaikeyi living in kope-bhawan – a raga that is celebratory as well as romantic, sung specially on occasions of marriage. Khamaj, Kalyani, etc are some of the other ragas are used commonly. An interesting aspect of Kumaoni Ramlila is the defining of chaupais into Rajasi chaupai, Rakshasi chaupai, etc. These different forms of chaupai are based on the characters who are singing them – Late Prem Matiyani, an expert on the aspect of the music used in the Kumaoni Ramlila, had explained, “Lyrics are sung in Rakshasi tarj if they are sung by a Rakshas or Rakshasi, else, the same lines would be sung in Rajasi tarj!” He claimed that this Ramlila must have come to Kumaon from Rajasthan between the period from 16th to the 18th century, when people migrated from there to Kumaon in large numbers. In Kumaon, ‘Swaroops’, the main characters and other characters also are played by very young male children only, but in Delhi, etc., adult male and female artists also have been playing different roles in the local Kumaoni Ramlilas.
Outside Kumaon, Delhi, Lucknow and Jhansi have been main centres of this Ramlila. One major motive behind many of these Ramlilas in Delhi and surrrounding areas was to support the construction or running of the schools and other social activities back there in villages in Kumaon, which was financially very backward at that time.
Patoonda Ramlila: A very strange thing about the Ramlila of Patoonda village is that it is celebrated around Ramnavmi in the months of Chaitra and Vaishakh (April as per the Gregorian calendar), as opposed to the other Ramlilas which are held during the Shukl Paksh in the Hindu month of Asooj (Ashwin – Sepember-October). Patoonda is a small village in Anta Tehsil of Baran district of Rajasthan, and is situated around 66 kilometres from Kota. The logic given by those behind holding this Ramlila in Chaitra-Vaisakh is that the festivities of Ramlila should be linked with the birth of Lord Ram, and not with the death of Ravan. This Ramlila is now also being held fully or partially in few more villages around the village Patoonda, who all claim their Ramlila to be the genuine one.
This Ramlila is written in Hadauti dialect of the Rajasthani language, which has a mixture of Dingal, an ancient language, a high-tone mode of writing with a flair of its own, which was prevalent in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Sindh provinces till the medieval times. Written and started by Guru Ganpatlal, a Dadhich Brahmin, this Ramlila is based primarily on Valmiki Ramayan and “Ramcharitmanas” of Tulsidas. Verses are written in dhai kadi (two-and-a-half lines), a popular folk-style of North India. Common villagers of Patoonda perform this Ramlila by singing the verses composed mainly in khadi boli and Reela tarj (tunes). Music is a very important aspect of this Ramlila also. Previously, chikara, a sarangi-like instrument was used in this Ramleela, which is not used anymore. It has been replaced with violin, which is accompanied by harmonium, tabla and manjeera (cymbals) during the performance. But I found that the sound of violin was not able to give the impact that a chikara would have given. But then, we have to pay the price of development and modernity. Three ‘savaris’ or ‘yaatras’ (processions) are taken out during this Ramlila – first, on the opening day to invite Ganesh ji from a nearby temple to visit and bless the Lila, the second one on the fourth day, i.e., Ashtmi, of Ramchandra ji’s baraat (marriage procession), and the third one on the sixth day, i.e., Dashmi (although Ravan is killed only on the last day). Only one effigy of Ravan is burnt on the day of Dashmi. Treasurer of this Ramlila Gopal Lal Nagar informed that this Ramlila is financed from the revenues earned from the 26 bighas of land having been donated for this Ramlila by Maharao Umed Singh, a ruler of the Kota State (1873-1940).
Rohtak/Haryanavi Ramlila: Based on “Arya Sangeet Ramayana”, written by Sardar Yashwant (Jaswant) Singh Verma Tohanvi (1881-1957), a Ramlila was performed in whole of Haryana as well as the adjoining areas in and around Alwar district of Rajasthan till around two decades back.
Now, it is extinct from most parts of Haryana, but people in the Mewat region around the bordering areas of Haryana and Rajasthan are still using some parts of Tohanvi’s Ramlila, while mixing it abundantly with the Ramlila of Radheyshyam Kathavachak, Tulsi Ramayan, etc. A clear distinction can be made in the singing styles when the artists switch over from Yashwant Singh tarj to Radheyshyam tarj or to Tulsi chaupais.
Directors make these switch-overs as per the demand of the scene to make it attractive to the mainly rural audience. When I visited the Ramlila in the picturesque remote village of Khohra Karmali in Alwar district of Rajasthan recently, it initially used a few pieces from Tohanvi, but switched over to Radheyshyam tarj and chaupais from Tulsi Ramayan. Film song and dance sequences are used freely to keep the audience interested in the performance of actual Ramayan. An interesting aspect was the playing of nakkara by Ayub Khan, a descendent of the Mirasi gharana of Mewat region of Haryana, to which Guru Nanak’s companion Mardana had belonged. This Ramlila was using sarangi initially, but it has been abandoned now.
Tohanvi, an Arya Samaji, wrote many religious and historical plays. Hailing from the Tohana town in Fatehabad district of Haryana on the borders of Haryana and Punjab, Tohanvi wrote his primarily lyrical Ramlila containing story up to Bharat Milap around a century back in khadi boli style of Hindi mixed abundantly with Urdu. Chaubola, Bahr-e-Tabeel, Bahr-e-quawwali, Bahr-e-shikast, Lavni, Daud, Sortha, etc were used by Tohanvi abundantly, besides many ragas and raginis. This shows his deep knowledge of the music – folk as well as classical.
Induja Awasthi, a research-scholar had visited Rohtak and witnessed one such Ramlila around 55 years back, and wrote in detail about it in her book, “Ramlila: Parampara aur Shailiyan”. She said that it was called Multani Ramlila. Even today, this Ramlila is organised mainly by the Punjabi community in the Alwar district of Rajasthan, although, the performances are done by the local commercial or professional groups.
All these three Ramlilas are losing their original singing styles in the modern times. Rohtak/Haryanvi Ramlila is widely mixing Radheyshyam-style dialogues along with film songs. Mittal laments that it is difficult to find singers for performing this longest opera of the world. Same is the case with the Kumaoni Ramlila. Today, it is very difficult to find amateur artists who can participate in music rehearsals for long periods. Everywhere professional groups perform and charge for their performance. The amateur nature of these performances is going away. It is only in the case of the Patoonda Ramlila that the old amateur group of the local people is performing with the help of amateur artists.
But modernity has also given some place to the women in the Kumaoni Ramlilas, in Delhi at least. Here, women are performing all the female characters . One can only hope that other Ramlilas also give some place to women in the coming years, while continuing performing the Ramlilas in their own varied styles, for, diversity is which gives Indian society its distinct identity.