In pics | Four-day Ramayana Festival begins in Delhi's Purana Qila

Four-day Ramayana Festival began at Purana Qila on Thursday where actors from India, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand and Sri Lanka will enact scenes from the epic with their own unique expressions. (PTI photo)

Malaisana’s troupe to perform a play called “The Golden Deer and the Abduction of Sida”, based on a chapter from the Lao Ramayana. (PTI photo)

Organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the 7th edition of the annual event, as the participation of the foreign countries indicates, will be an amalgamation of art, dance and history influenced by the Indian epic across the world. (PTI photo)

Vath Lao, director of the play from Laos, said, “It is interesting that the Ramayana is equally popular in many countries other than India, including my own Laos.” (PTI photo)

The Lao version of the Ramayana is known as Phra Lak Phra Ram (or alternatively, Pha Lak Pha Lam), the title referring to the brothers, Lakshmana and Rama. (PTI photo)

The director of the play from Varanasi, Vyomesh Shukla, said, “Our play is based on poet and author Suryakant Tripathi Nirala's poetry Ram ki Shakti Puja, which delves into the mental state of Lord Rama during the war against Ravana.” He added that the play taught people to be prepared for the struggles and conflicts of modern-day life. (PTI photo)

Festival is organised to ensure the audience get acquainted with the spectacular cultural forms of Ramayana, such as Sendratari Ramayana of Indonesia, Khon Ramakien of Thailand, the dance drama on the Ramayana from Singapore, the Maranao folk dance Singkil from the Philippines, a Khmer classical dance form and ancient puppetry Ramayana of Cambodia, and also the Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet show) and Kecak Balinese dance drama based on the epic. (PTI photo)

As part of the elaborate rituals leading up to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony to be held on January 22, the idol of Ram Lalla was placed in the 'Garbha Griha' of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on Thursday amid joyous chants of 'Jai Shri Ram.'

Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram's idol is scheduled at the grand temple in Ayodhya at 12:30 PM on January 22, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Elaborate arrangements are being made for the ceremony.

"Our culture impacted distant areas in the olden times. Ramayan connects all the people in this region. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, etc., are the countries which are connected with India. These countries are not only geographically or historically connected but also culturally. The next year would be celebrated as 'Ramayan Utsav' across the globe, said Union minister Meenakashi Lekhi at the inauguration of the seventh edition of India International Ramayan Mela. (ANI photo)