Any public performance of the Ramayana, the first of the two major Hindu epics.
The fundamental storyline of the epic centres on the
god-king Rama's unjust exile; Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka's kidnapping of
Rama's wife Sita; and Rama's hunt for Sita, which culminates in Ravana's death.
Ram Lilas are popular in northern India throughout the fall,
and they generally coincide with the Dussehra festival (October–November),
which commemorates Rama's victory over Ravana and hence the symbolic triumph of
virtue over evil.
The Ram Lilas were key symbolic vehicles for displaying
pride in Indian culture in the late nineteenth century.
They were also seen as a coded sign of resistance to British
control.
Ram Lilas may now be found in many of northern India's
largest towns, and neighborhood groups often fund their own local versions.
Ramnagar, the walled town where the kings of Benares live,
hosts the longest, most spectacular, and perhaps the oldest Ram Lila.
The Ramnagar Ram Lila was started in the early nineteenth
century, under the reign of Udit Narayan Singh, and although though he no
longer has temporal sovereignty over the city, the Maharaja of Benares
continues to play a key symbolic role in the production.
It lasts thirty-one days, during which time the action
shifts to several locations in and around Ramnagar.
Thousands of dedicated viewers tune in during the whole
month, but on peak days, the crowd might surpass 100,000 people.
See Norvin Hein's The Miracle Plays of Mathura, 1972, and
Anaradha Kapur's Actors, Pilgrims, Kings, and Gods, 1990, for more information
on the Ram Lila.
