VARANASI: For the first time in 235 years, Ramlila at Ramnagar was put on hold for a day after four actors playing the characters of Lord Ram, Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughan were admitted to
Lal Bahadur Shastri government hospital with symptoms of diarrhoea.
The 45-day-long Ramnagar Ramlila was recognised as an intangible world cultural heritage by Unesco in 2005.
On Wednesday, the episode of Phulwari could not be performed after an outbreak of diarrhoea in Malahi Tola, where the team was camping at a dharamshala. Following improvement in the condition of the boy playing Laxman, the episode was to be staged on Thursday but could start only three hours after the scheduled time of the famous Ramlila, which sees the entire city turn into an
openair set and involves the audience movement with the actors to different locations, over a period of 31 days.
Ramnagar Ramlila in charge Manoj Srivastava said, “In 235 years of this Ramlila, not a single episode was postponed. But, this time all four actors playing the main characters were hit by the diarrhoea outbreak.”
Ramnagar Palika Parishad chairperson
Rekha Sharma claimed that there was no lapse at their end. The team of doctors set up by chief medical officer V B Singh conducted a survey of the area and said that the water supply is getting contaminated as underground pipelines had been damaged.
Dr Piyush Rai leading the team said, “Old localities on Ganga bank like Malahi Tola are facing problem of contaminated supply after the flooded river started receding. Residents say that the initial water supply is highly contaminated and clear water comes only after about 15 minutes of flow.”
“On Wednesday, 31 patients from this locality were rushed to hospital with diarrhoea while 16 were admitted on Thursday. The four boys playing lead roles in Ramlila also had acute diarrhoea,” Rai added. The Ramlila began on September 23 on
Anant Chaturdashi and will end a day after Dussehra.
CM Yogi Adityanath had visited Malahia Tola ward on Thursday to inaugurate the memorial-cum-museum at the ancestral house of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Read this story in Bengali
