When marriage turns Ram into Ravan

KATHMANDU - Twenty years ago, Ganesh Jha of Indias Ayodhya town was known as Ram.

The 40-year-old is one of the major actors at the Saket Adarsha Ramlila Mandal (SARM) in Indias Uttar Pradesh state that, like hundreds of other mandals or drama groups in India, tours the subcontinent and even abroad during the festival season of Dussehra.

Its repertoire consists primarily of the Ramlila, the adoption of the Ramayan, the epic tale of the war between Prince Ram and demon king Ravan, that is also a symbol of the universal battle between good and evil.

Jha, who joined the troupe when he was 10, soon rose to play the role of Ram when he was a young boy and then, the stripling prince.

However, when his family got him married at the age of 20, Jha had to bid farewell to the role of Ram, whos also one of the most popular Hindu icons.

Since then, he has been playing the role of Ravan, who abducts Rams wife Sita and as a consequence, loses his kingdom, life and dynasty after a protracted and savage war marked by espionage and treachery.

We Ramlila artistes are not like film actors, says Rabindra Das, SARMs director, who travelled to southern Nepal with 24 other members to perform in the border towns. We enact the Ramlila in accordance with Hindu religious principles.

Since Ram is considered to have been an incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu, tradition dictates that the actor playing him in Ramlila has to be celibate. So once the actor gets married, the role passes on to another unmarried actor.

SARM says its actors are especially groomed. In the morning, young actors are schooled in the old Gurukul style, being taught the scriptures and traditional knowledge. In the afternoon, they are initiated into the art of enacting religious and divine plays.

Once a band of wandering minstrels, Ramlila artistes have come up today. Jha gets a monthly salary of Rs.25,000, the actor told Kantipur daily. A show costs about Rs.5 lakh, what with the addition of elaborate lights, a sound system and special effects.

Also, it is an elaborate act, usually spilling over into three weeks. However, this time the performance has been shortened to 12 days, starting at 8 p.m. and continuing till midnight.

Nepalgunj, the border town in Nepal where the troupe is performing this Dussehra, has a large Muslim population.

When the curtain goes up at the Tandon Rice Mill grounds, where a makeshift theatre has been constructed, Muslims watch the show together with Hindus just as they celebrate the festival together with Hindus.

Nepal, though once the only Hindu kingdom in the world where conversions were a punishable offence, has a history of living in harmony with different religious communities and the Ramlila dialogues reverberate through the town via loudspeakers.

Shyam Sundar Kanodia, chairman of the local Ramlila committee, says the town has been inviting troupes from India to perform the tale for 143 years without any break.

It is an impressively long tradition. SARM itself has been performing in Nepal since the last 30 years, unhindered by political tension between the two neighbouring countries or conflict in India, especially in Ayodhya, which in the past saw one of the worst scenes of sectarian violence, killing over 2000.