Bridging generations: How Ramleela artistes weave simple language and humour into storytelling

It's that time of the year when the troops of Ramleela narrate the epic Ramayana to keen audiences through various skit performances. As the Navratri festival begins on Sunday, October 15, the Ramleela troupes are in the midst of their last-minute preparations.

Over the years, the art of traditional mythological storytelling and the Ramleela performances have survived because of their community connections. The Ramleela is a traditional Indian art form that originated in the northern parts of India, mainly in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The artistes from Mathura mainly await the Navratri festival in order to perform and showcase their traditional art and give the audience a glimpse of Ravan Dahan on the last day - the 10th day of the festival, also known as the Dussehra festival. The Ramleela is a dramatic reenactment of the epic Ramayana, a Hindu mythological story that narrates the life journey of Lord Rama.

Several mandals have been organising Ramleela in Mumbai at different locations, including Dadar, Cotton Green, Tilak Nagar, and Girgaum Chowpatty, to name a few. Even in the digital world of technology and the Gen Z generation, the artistes express that their art cannot be stated as dying art, as even today, people eagerly visit to watch them perform.

The 72-year-old artist Baijnath Chaturvedi from Mathura has been performing since the early 1960s. According to Chaturvedi, since his grandfather's era, the family members have been a part of the Ramleela troop.

The term ‘Ramleela' is derived from two words: ‘Ram', which refers to Lord Rama, and ‘leela', which means skit or play.

Chaturvedi, who performed the role of Lord Ram in his earlier days, has now taken up various other roles as and when required. Chaturvedi, has travelled across India to perform Ramleela. According to Chaturvedi, Ramleela is still a traditional art that people like to watch, especially the Ravan Dahan.

The crowd gathers slowly

While in the first few days, there is a smaller audience, more crowds can be seen gathering in the last few days.

Chaturvedi explains, "We can't say it is a dying art. Even today, people like to watch the epic episode of Ravan Dahan. Every year, while on the first three days, there are fewer people who gather to watch our performances. On the last three to four days we see a huge number of people gathered at each and every location in Mumbai. On the day of Dussehra, Ravan Dahan concludes our skit performances with a bang."

Ramleela is performed during the nine days of Navratri and concludes on the 10th day with the celebration of Dussehra. It marks the victory of good over evil. According to the artistes, Ramleela has regional variations in different parts of our country.

According to the artistes, efforts have been made to preserve and promote the Ramleela art form. Artistes concerned with the decline in the audience have started moulding their art form to keep the audience engaged and the cultural heritage alive.

Speaking about how the old artistes have moulded themselves to blend with the demands of the new generation, Chaturvedi explained that they keep the traditional language alive but twist it in a way that will help them connect with the newer audience.

Chaturvedi said, "The older generation is connected to us because they have been watching us perform Ramleela for a very long time. But to connect with the newer generation, we try to mould language and add a bit of humour that helps the young population understand the mythological stories in a better way. We try to use layman's terms rather than very old traditional words."

Adding about what they prefer to not change in order to keep the traditional art form alive, he added, "We do not use dark comedy or filmy songs; only mythological songs are used to connect with the mythological stories and keep the art alive."

According to Chaturvedi, it's their duty to keep the Ramleela art alive and raise awareness about it among younger generations so that people don't forget this art.

The younger generation is keeping it alive

While Chaturvedi's grandfather, father, and brothers have been artistes since their childhood, the new generation in his family thinks that they need to preserve Ramleela as an art.

Just like Chaturvedi's mandal, there are at least 10 to 20 more mandals in Mathura that perform Ramleela throughout the year professionally.

Chaturvedi's 27-year-old grandson Siddharth has been performing with his family for the past 10 to 12 years. As a child artiste, he has performed various roles, including Ram, Lakshman, and Sita, to name a few.

According to Siddharth, he always wanted to be an artiste like his family members in order to perform the Ramleela and take the art forward.

Siddharth said, "A few of the people from the younger generation in Mathura now prefer to do professional jobs and take up Ramleela art as a hobby. While a few, like me, want to encourage this art by taking it to a professional level, in a few cases, the youngsters work in a corporate setting for the entire year and take leave during a 10-day festival in order to rehearse and perform Ramleela."

In one troop, there are at least 15 to 20 male artistes who perform different roles, including that of a female character. "We don't have female artistes in the troop. All the characters are performed by male artistes only," specified Siddharth.

Taking the help of digital media

Speaking about whether the troops take advantage of digital media in order to gain viewers, Siddharth explained, "During off-season, we keep on posting pictures and videos from the scene of the skits in order to engage the viewers and attract a new audience to see art form."