Much to the delight of cultural lovers, a five-day festival wherein cultural groups from the 10 member-nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will stage musicals and plays based on the epic Ramayana, celebrating the India-ASEAN dialogue, will start in the national capital from Friday.
The artistes will showcase cultural interpretations of the folklore whose various versions are still prevalent in South East Asia including India.
“Top cultural and art groups from all 10 ASEAN countries--Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam will distill various episodes of the Rama story, through a harvest of sights and sounds, of nuanced interpretations and revelations.
“They will reveal the assimilation, indigenisation and re-interpretation the epic has undergone, said Riva Ganguly Das, DG of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), which is organising the event.
To mark over 25 years of a partnership between India and southeast Asia, the event will also be held at five other cities-Ayodhya, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kolkata.
Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President, ICCR said, “India enjoys strong civilizational links with all ASEAN countries. Ramayana as it is performed in the various ASEAN countries is not only a reflection of the strong cultural and civilisational links we have with them but it is also a bond which is their common heritage and binds them to each other.”
The festival seeks to underline the common cultural heritage and India’s friendship with ASEAN nations, he said.
“Ramayana as it is performed in these nations is not only a reflection of the strong cultural and civilisational links we have with them
but is also a bond which is their common heritage and binds them to each other,” he added.
This is the 26th year of the India-ASEAN dialogue. On January 28, 1992, a decision to establish a Sectoral Dialogue Partnership between ASEAN and India was taken at the 4th ASEAN Summit in Singapore.
All ten heads of ASEAN countries to attend the summit will be the guests of honour at the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi on January 26.
Ramayana is one of the world’s longest epics. It has had primal influence on the faith, culture and art of India.
Its exploration of the concepts of duty and righteousness permeated Indian philosophy and literature, according to historians.