Watch out, that’s Hanuman descending from 100 feet

NEW DELHI: It all began at the instance of the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. The cast wore costumes prepared in the fashion of their royal patrons and spoke in Brajbhasha, the dialect spoken in Mathura. And Lord Ram wore a turban akin to the one the emperor wore. That was about 200 years back. Today the organisers of major Ramlilas in Delhi, mostly in Walled City, make sure the version they present is as authentic and engaging as their celluloid variant.Clothes are more believable and the script in pristine Hindi.
This change came about in 1966 when Ramlila organisers like Lala Ugarsain Singhal (83) of Shri Dharmik Lila Committee felt the need for improvement. The clothes and headgear we see today was, in fact, inspired by a 1960s movie. ‘‘Shobhna Samarth played Sita in the film, and I found the presentation brilliant,’’ said Singhal.
‘‘The Ramayan was enacted during Dussehra even 200 years back, but it was not in the form of Ramlilas we see now. It was presented in the form of nautanki by artistes invited from Mathura. The first Ram Baraat was taken out in the reign of the last Mughal emperor, who himself received the procession,’’ said Singhal.
For the past 60 years, Singhal has been associated with Shri Dharmik Ramlila Committee. ‘‘Then the entire affair was makeshift. The stage was set in the middle of an open field,’’ said Singhal. The all-male cast would comprise chaubeys from Mathura.
‘‘They wore frock-like uppers and knickers and wound strips of cloth around their legs. Make up would be a ball of yellow colour, crushed in the palm and smeared on the face,’’ said Singhal. Today’s Ramlila is a far cry from the basic entertainment reeled out in the past. ‘‘It is technologically savvy and involves a lot more organisational skill,’’ said Sanjay Khanna of Shri Ramlila Committee.
The female characters are no longer played by men. ‘‘In fact, all the roles are played by professional artistes from Moradabad,’’ said Pradeep Sharan of Shri Dharmik Lila Committee. Technology has also made forays into real action — the epic itself. For instance, in the Sitaharan scene, a mechanised trolley is used to depict Ravan’s flying chariot. And Hanuman will take the aerial route to destroy Lanka this year.
What is extraordinary, however, is the scale of local participation. ‘‘For 15 to 20 days we give up our other businesses. This, too, is a form of intoxication,’’ said Dhiraj Dhar Gupta, member of Shri Dharmik Lila Committee. But while Gupta and Sharan say the Ramlila production has improved over the years, they also feel the spontaneity associated with the occasion has ceased.
‘‘The security, though necessary, has destroyed the freewheeling sense of fun. There was a time when prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru would visit the Ramlila at Red Fort and sit among the common public. Even as late as 80s, Indira Gandhi once turned up unannounced, accompanied by the Prime Minister of New Zealand,’’ said Sharan. Today, however, security is not the only element Old Delhiwalas feel is out of sync. Octogenarian Rameshwar Dass’s family has been living in the old city for a few generations now. Dass remembered the time when people would dress specially to visit the Ramlila. ‘‘But today it’s simply the fanfare and the chaat that attracts crowds to the festivities,’’ he says.
But the word of criticism came from the youngest generation of the audience. ‘‘I don’t care much for Ramlilas now. Some of them use lewd expressions and gestures that are difficult to digest,’’ said Akash Gupta (13).
Last year, a certain Ramlila committee had displayed cut-outs of semi-nude women around Ravana’s throne. ‘‘Even if Ravana was depicted as evil in the epic, this is sheer obscenity,’’ said Shelly Gupta, another resident of the area.
But there are others who feel Ramlilas bring people together. ‘‘On the last day of the Lila, we take out a procession. It passes through Muslim-dominated areas and the yatra has always been received with reverence. If not anything else, community life in the Walled City is still alive,’’ said Sharan.