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Ankit Chadha - Ramlila in Delhi
HISTORY
RAMLILA IN DELHI-THE BEGINNING
PRECURSORS AND PROTO-TYPES
TULSIDAS AND HIS CONNECTION TO LILA
STATE, SUPPORT and START
RAMLILA IN DELHI-THE BEGINNING
Have you, by any chance, passed through the Sitaram Bazar in Delhi? If not, do make a visit to the market. If yes, you must have noticed the architecture of the area. It seems that every brick of the area is full of history. But, I was struck by something else. During my first ever visit to the area, it was the nomenclature of the bazaar that left me spellbound. Wandering in the kuchas and katras of the walled city for 40 days, I hoped to discover a building in that area that is supposed to have a very close relationship with the beginnings of Ramlila in Delhi .
The building I am still in search of, is the kothi of Lala Sitaram, the person after whom the market is named .Starting with a long walk around the market, with eyes wide open, I tried to establish some links with the other medieval monuments that stood there.
But, of no avail. The Vaish Trust had records of lalas who had been there in the early 20th century. However, the lala I want to trace is much more older. On asking some of the chachas ( they are the guys whom researchers catch hold of for some first hand information), they could only go as far as their own contemporary Chacha Nehru. If it interests you, the
sasuraal (in-laws’ house) of the first Prime Minister of the Republic of India is situated on the same street .
When an 85 year old appeared clueless on my question regarding the lala’s place, I was disappointed. He replies that since the time he came into this world, he has been living and earning his living in Sitaram Bazar. He never wondered that there was a person by that name .Instead, belief in Lord Rama became the cause of his ignorance relating to the name of his janmabhoomi and karmabhoomi
But, I do not blame him. For, he enlightens me about the significant role of Ramlila in reinforcing the continued historical presence of Ramyana’s historicity in Indian popular consciousness.
When Muhammad Shah ‘Rangila’ (1702-1748) ascended the throne of Delhi in 1719, he asked for a loan towards the royal treasury from Lala Sitaram. Clinching the opportunity, it is said, the businessman proposed a deal to the Emperor . In return for the money lent, he obtained the permission for the stagery of Ramlila at his bungalow in the Sitaram Bazar. My search aimed at confirming the occurrence of this incident.
Then, in the last quarter of the 18th century, some Hindu soldiers in the Mughal army under Shah Alam-II started celebrating a Ramlila on the Banks of Yamuna. Again, no records in my knowledge back the authenticity of the statement made.
Finally, as I am helpless to move closer to our times in absence of any evidence, I take up the reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar ( the last emperor of the Mughal dynasty ) i.e. 1837-1857. Fortunately, after a struggle for the address, I succeed in locating the present generation of the Raj Pandit of the Emperor’s Darbar. Mahant Raghav Das Ji Maharaj expressed his desire to the Muslim ruler to celebrate the Hindu tradition of Ramlila. Bahadur Shah not only agreed, but also decided to provide some funds for the event.
At this time, the festival was conducted on a very limited scale in the Old Subzi Mandi area .
As it expanded , the Hindu business class took over the responsibility for arranging the funds .Soon, the Muslim rule came to an end. But, the lila continued. British took over the administration. When they inaugurated the city of New Delhi as their capital, the venue of the Ramlila shifted to a huge field separating the old and the new Delhi. This ground is our very own Ramlila Maidaan – the centre of protest. Till date, the epic continues to be staged at the venue on Asaf Ali Road. The lila is popularly known as ‘Badi Ramlila ’.
Till 1923, the mahants in association with the merchant-patrons continued to carry forward the tradition. That year is a milestone in the history of Ramlila in capital. The first ever Ramlila Committee was formed by the name of ‘Sri Ramlila Committee’. Its membership was as diverse as the composition of population of Delhi. Brahmins, Khatris and Baniyas, along with some of the Muslims were a part of the organisation .
However, soon differences emerged between the members of the committee and it split into two factions. Baniya group moved out, forming a committee of its own. Initially, they shifted to the place where we have the Lajpat Rai market now, before moving to the present venue. Performed at the Subhash Maidaan ( earlier known as Parade Maidaan ), this production later came to be registered as ‘Sri Dharmic Lila Committee’. Interestingly, while the Vaishya faction witnessed a geometrical proliferation of Ramlila committees out of it such as the Navshri Dharmic Lila committee and Sanatan Dharmalila Committee, the Khatri group of the first Ramlila committee has hardly seen any split .In 1938, it became the first committee to get registered under the Societies’ Act. Along with that, it enforced a constitution which defined the powers and functions of the members.
It is noteworthy that this Ramlila was accompanied by a lila procession since the period of Bahadur Shah Zafar, who gave permission for the expansion of the journey of Lord Rama’s chariot (of wooden horses with silver carvings) to the city region including Red fort. The artists who used to play the lila at the maidaan would be seated on the ratha along with the mahants. The procession began in the afternoon, passing through the city, and reached the venue in the evening . After the performance, it would return back late night to the place from where it had started.
With the Lal Qila coming under the control of the British in 1857 (after the great revolt ), the English restrained the Lila procession to pass through the fort as they had established a cantonment there. However, a 1915 letter by the Englishman D.S. Hadow, Esquire, Superintendent of Police, Delhi Province, suggests that although the cultural policy of the British was suppressive, the importance of the procession was so great that even the officer of such a rank seems extremely concerned about the security arrangements on the route of the yatra. You can estimate the status of the mahant by the fact that the SP addressed him as 'Sir', asking him to meet at the Town Hall chambers for deciding on the procession’s route.
Why I explain these details is for the reason that today, the procession that was once a spectacle attracting people from around the country is in a miserable state. The point of the origination of the chariot journey is more commonly known for the bicycles that stand along its door. The Ancient Ram Temple on the Esplanade Road (No. 469-70) receives its address by the name of the cycle market which postdates it by at least 75 years.
The road too has lost the meaning of its term. Yamuna, that once used to flow along it, has been pushed backwards. Once, the road was full of temples only. Today, each temple has shops on both the sides with just the doors of
the temples being visible. I would have missed the historic temple of my interest if there had not been this helpful man guiding me .
2001 was the last time that the journey began from here. The present mahant of the peeth
(which is two centuries old), Pandit Ram Krishna Sharma is disheartened, both about the condition of the procession and the political activities within the committee. With dozens of stories to tell, he presents before me papers stamped by the Government of Delhi, bestowing absolute privileges on the mahants through the Committee’s constitution, which has been violated by the present General Secretary.
The wooden horses are broken, gilded costumes have been lost, silver carvings have been missing. But, it is not in these precious metals that I find the loss. The real value of the loss of heritage can be measured in the pain of the voice of Mr. Subhash. C. Aggarwal. He is the same helpful man whom I mentioned above as my guide.
His memories cherish the procession, of which he has been a witness to since his childhood. The temple is a few steps away from his house in a kucha in Dariba Kalan. An RTI activist and the Guinness Book record holder of maximum letters to editors of newspapers , the man ( in his 60s) continues to fight for the battle from his own front – the power of pen .
He has repeatedly lodged complaints with the administration. But, his questions remain unanswered (as against the assurance of replies by the government website).
He is also concerned about the preservation of sacredness of the institution. Appeals for efficient use of the funds are pending too. Moreover, he is hurt at the increasing vulgarity in some of the productions. Fortunately, a court ruling prevented the inclusion of obscene content in Ramlila performances in Delhi.
He cites the example of a performance at Haridwar where Ravana was shown enjoying with a cabaret dancer.
Enough. For, the origins I mean.
PRECURSORS AND PROTO-TYPES
(The king of Lanka was also a distinguished scholar.
Thus, prayers and offerings are made to the actor portraying
the character of Ravana before he takes on the stage.)
In one of the very first works on Ramlila, Norvin Hein, while discovering the seeds of this theatrical tradition, has identified an ancestor for Ramlila performances in an ancient style of Vaishnava ballet that was patronized by the royalty of the period.
This dance – drama form of recreation may have flourished in the Mathura region, during the early centuries of the Christian era. But, what is more striking is that its presumed folk descendant is separated by almost a millennium in the textual records. Some Ramayana-based performances have been recorded in the early sixteenth century Orissa.
TULSIDAS AND HIS CONNECTION TO LILA
(The scene of Kevat arranging for the
boat to carry Lord Rama is being staged)
The text on which the present pattern of Ramlila is based, Ramcharitamas
was written by Goswami Tulsidas (1532-1623). He is supposed to have heard the tales of Lord Rama’s exploits from his teacher Narhari Das. The form of stagery which is practised today had first originated in Varanasi (not very far from the birthplace of the saint) during or after the lifetime of the author. A reference to one of the contemporaries of Tulsidas, Megha Bhagat (or Narayandass) is also made in this context.
While one school is of the view that Bhagat had been staging the Ramlila based on Valmiki’s Ramayana before Tulsidas approached him, another more popular version designates Tulsidas as the master of Megha Bhagat. It suggests that on the death of his guru, the disciple started the stagery to carry forward the tradition.
Philip Lutgendorf has made a an important point in this regard, “..it must be noted that the legends that credit Tulsidas with the founding of the Ramlila in Benaras are associated with the claims of specific productions to being the city’s original or adilila Although the
organizing committee of Tulsighat production dates back only to 1933, it still claims to continue a tradition begun by the poet himself .”
When I was attempting to define the oldest Ramlila (restricting the area of study to the modern National Capital Territory of Delhi), I found the above made observation by Lutgendorf quite useful.
All written records and archives that I went through reveal the lila which began during the reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar and later came to be recognized as ‘Sri Ramlila Committee (Registered)’, popularly known as the Badi Ramlila and held at the Ramlila Maidaan.
Though, some legends glorify Tulsidas for being the person who laid the foundation of Ramlila even in Delhi (during the rule of Akbar). However, neither was I able to locate the Gurwalon ki Dharmashala which is said to have, contemporarily, been the centre of his activity, nor do any record suggests the existence of a ‘staged’ lila before Bahadur Shah Zafar’s period. Even if there was any practice of bhakti directed to Lord Rama, it remained of the nature of a satsang
STATE, SUPPORT and START
(Shurpanakha, after her humiliation threatens
Rama and Lakshmana of a revenge by her brother)
The view that Ramlila began as a reaction to the mass conversion of Hindus (after the establishment of Muslim rule in India) continues to be the dominant one. Islam with its ideal of universal brotherhood , emerged as an alternative . It appealed to the low caste followers of Hinduism, who preferred conversion over oppression.
It was then that the wealthy Hindus decided to promote their very own Katha of spiritual egalitarianism, which told that a Kevat or a Shabari had an access to God equal to the one enjoyed by the likes of Sugreeva or Vibhishana .
If we make a closer observation of the distribution of temporal power during the 17th century India, we will conclude that although the Mughals enjoyed paramount power, they did not exercise centralized control. This statement turns even more apt for the 18th century. While the Emperor at Delhi continued to legitimize the claims of tribute-payers, there had emerged many levels of government. For instance, the Nawabs of Awadh acknowledged the supremacy of Mughals. At the same time, they allowed a number of local chieftains to administer over the areas within Awadh such as Mirzapur .
So while the higher levels remained in Muslim hands, Hindu rajas held sway in their principalities. Hence , even if the centre showed resistance to the spread of Hindu culture, the interior remained close to its cultural heritage, nourishing it through the celebration of Ramlila.
Lila was a sort of devotional practice that did not require elaborate superstructures as temples or shrines.
Thus, it could not be a soft target for the orthodox courtiers who were against idol worship.
Also, the sadhus ( saints ) who undertook the responsibility of spreading this tradition did not settle anywhere permanently. This wandering nature of their life made it difficult for the state to regulate their activities.
As the Mughal power declined, the Hindu princes in distant provinces began to assert their autonomy. This act was supplemented by deliberate expression of an identity distinct from the Islamic culture at capital. One of such forms of expression was patronage to what is the present day style of (Ramcharita) Manas exposition.
Here, I would like to cite the classic example of Benaras, where its 18th century rulers made a remarkable contribution towards the conservation and promotion of both Manas and Ramlila.
Following is a brief account of the rulers of the dynasty : -
1. Manas Ram Singh :
Ascended the throne in 1717 .
2. Balvant Singh
3. Name not known
4. Udit Narayan Singh :
Reorganized the local Ramlila into a month-long elaborate performance .
5. Ishvariprasad Narayan Singh :
His reign ( 1821-1829) is referred to as
‘the Golden Age of Manas’ . He himself
authored a commentary on the work.
6. Prabhu Narayan Singh :
Came out with publications of his father’s works.
Listed below are the factors of special significance that made me highlight, particularly, the kingdom of Benaras : -
(i) The later rulers of this dynasty claimed to be Brahmins. This claim can be explained as a desire to rise from the obscure origins to a higher political status. And , ritual activities such as presence at ceremonies such as Ramlila as the political head was a mode to the aimed status.
(ii) Sovereignty (and independence from paying tribute) was one of the powers that every king would want to enjoy. When the rulers of Benaras decided to break away from the paramount powers, they devised various means for the purpose.
For example, the use of the title ‘Maharaja’ before their names. Similarly, they sought to win the support of their subjects and derive legitimacy to their authority by proposing Ramraj to be their objective.
Again, I need to put forth two important points in relation to the above stated factor and the choice of deity to be followed that was made by the ‘Maharajas’ of Benaras : -
(a) Geography plays its part in bhakti. Located in proximity to the birthplace of Ram (Ayodhya in eastern U.P.) and the being the home of the Manas, it became natural for the Hindu dynasty that arose in the area to patronize Ram-related traditions.
(b) While Lord Krishna’s image was of a divine cowherd, Ram’s reign serves as an example for any ruler. Association with the Suryavanshi royal family was made to provide validity to the rule.
(iii) Introduction of printed editions of Manas by this dynasty widened the readership of the work and, more importantly, created a new patronage for it. Ironically, the result was a fall in importance of royal support.
Language had an unparalleled role in supplying funds for the Ramlila. The Ramayana of Valmiki had been written in Sanskrit, which was, primarily the language of religious elite – the uppermost varna of Brahmins. Demand for a vernacular version came in the picture when the newer patrons (especially the mercantile class) expressed their desire to appreciate the epic. After all, Ramlila was to be enjoyed in devotion, and understanding would only enhance this enjoyment .
It must be noted that while all these developments were taking place in Uttar Pradesh, the capital remains in picture with the rule at the center directing, actively or in a passive manner, the activities in the provinces .
After the downfall of Mughal empire, the British took over the reins in their hands. This alien rule was even more harsh on the Hindu culture than the previous one.
So , now you know why there was only a single British (in Elizabeth) when Lagaan’s Bhuvan and company perform the krishna Lila.
With power shifting from Hindu to Muslim hands,
native to foreign hands, and conservative to liberal hands , patronage was given or withdrawn in accordance with respective interests.
But, with India becoming a free and secular state in 1947, Ramlilas came to be recognized as national festivals. Today, even international organizations such as UNESCO have come forward for the promotion of Ramlila. Recently (in 2006-07), the UNO’s body gave the status of ‘Heritage of Humanity’ to Ramlila and granted Rs. 5 crores to the Government of India for its conservation .
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