Facebook Twitter Instagram
    India Art Review
    • Dance
    • Music
    • Art
    • Heritage
    • Theatre
    • Books
    • Films
    • Team
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    India Art Review
    Home»News»The Amins & Arshiyas of Ramlila and Yakshagana
    News

    The Amins & Arshiyas of Ramlila and Yakshagana

    IAR DeskBy IAR DeskOctober 28, 2020
    Share
    WhatsApp Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Telegram

    Amid the Covid-subdued Ramlila season of 2020, IAR takes a view of its Muslim artistes. Also, a quick glance at similar participation of the community in the Yakshagana theatre of the south.

    She isn’t demure, but appears truly earnest in her conduct. However, Lakshmana is not impressed with the pretty woman’s requests to meet his elder brother. A spat ensues and, at one point, the sword-wielding man cuts the nose of the guest.

    That reveals her identity as a demoness: Shurpanakha. Dramatically, there enters a grotesque-looking character in the next scene. With a mash of make-believe flesh hanging till her lips, the woman delivers a long speech, vowing to take revenge on the couple—Rama and Sita, seen on the stage that is now their hermitage in the forest.

    This is a famed scene from Yakshagana, a pre-classical dance-theatre from southwest India. The art-form, endemic to south Karnataka and areas north Malabar’s Kasaragod, typically follows themes from Hindu mythology. Here, of course, it’s a slice from the Ramayana.

    The epic has its equally popular idiom of presentation upcountry. Ramlila. It’s a folksier enactment of the Purana, with the lyrics sticking to Ramcharitmanas. That is written in an eastern Hindi language called Awadhi by bhakti stalwart Goswami Tulsidas (1532-1623).

    Yakshagana, though, has its poems (prasanga) penned by not one author. Also, the drama from Deccan has its lyrics sung by a vocalist with his musicians in the backdrop even as the characters chip in with dialogues. Contrastingly, Ramlila’s stage artistes, with largely realistic make-up and costume, double as musicians. They require talent in singing.

    Rahims of Ramlila

    The scope of this two-part feature is confined to the active participation of non-Hindus in the two art-forms. Pleasantly interesting, given that the themes of the art are from the Puranas.

    To begin with, Lucknow has a Muslim family that has been organising Ramlila for the past half-a-century, passing the legacy down its three generations. Its head, Mohd Sabir Khan, was an early teenager when he debuted on the Ramlila stage way back in 1972.

    The endeavour matured. Today, the troupe has artistes from the Hindu and Muslim communities. They include Khan’s two sons and his grandchildren. “God did not divide people as Hindus and Muslims. We are all one, as brothers,” Khan was quoted as saying while speaking to a news agency during the 2018 Dussehra festivities. “Above all, we are human beings.”

    Notwithstanding a general change in the attitudes of the two communities towards each other since the 1990s, the joint participation at the Ramlila continues with the people in Khan’s area of Bakshi Ka Talab.


    Upcountry, Chandigarh has artistes from the Islamic faith in its Ramlila committees. In 2015, when the show was on at Mani Majra, a teenaged engineering student from a Muslim family essayed the role of Sita. A little away in the City Beautiful, at Sector 28, two uncles of the youngster essayed prominent roles when the local Garhwal Ramlila Committee staged the art.

    Miraz Malik, who was 17 then, said youngsters were becoming open to each other’s customs. “In any case, Ramlila goes beyond religion,” he added.

    Punjab and Beyond

    Further northward, Punjab’s Patiala district has a town called Rajpura. There, for the past 22 years, it’s, again, a Muslim family organising Ramlila. Middle-aged Faqir Mohammad, as its head, recalls his initial tryst with the Ramlila at the pandal as a child. So enchanted was the boy with the ambience he began assisting the organisers in what little ways he could at the tent pitched by the local Sri Adarsh Mahavir Club.

    Into the present century, the organisation closed down, only to branch off into two societies. Mohammad went on to helm one of them called Shree Ram Parivaar Society.

    Mohammad is reasonably well off today, in contrast with his formative years in the household that, in the late 1940s, moved into Rajpura from a village not very far. From eking out a life as a roadside tailor, he later ran a gas agency. Of late, Mohammad is a road patti contractor. The changes in profile apart, the man continues with his namaaz at the local masjid.

    Still up the map, late Mohammed Amin Sourawardi of Jammu region is renowned for his translation of the Ramayana into Urdu in the last century for the enactment of Ramlila on stage. Sourawardi was 96 when he died in 2008, five decades after his epochal work that continues to give voice to Ramlilas in his native Doda.

    Back in the plains of Uttar Pradesh, Mathura in the west to Jaunpur in the east (near Varanasi) besides Faizabad, the headquarters of the district that sports lord Rama’s Ayodhya, too have Muslim artistes performing Ramlila.

    This is Part 1 of a two-part series

    #Dance #Theatre Dance featured Indian dance Islam Ramlila Yakshagana
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Telegram WhatsApp
    Previous ArticlePt Jasraj to PS Narayanaswamy, a Line-up of Heritage Losses
    Next Article The Amins & Arshiyas of Ramlila and Yakshagana (II)
    IAR Desk

      Related Posts

      Arm Movements in Mohiniyattam

      Saptam: The Occult Origins of Mohiniyattam –95

      July 30, 2023
      Dr. Vasundahra Doraswamy

      Benefits of Back Bending Yoga Postures for Dancers

      July 21, 2023
      Youth

      The Fountain of Youth

      May 16, 2023

      Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

      Author In Focus VK Karthika

      Pathaan

      Pathaan: A Triumph of Love Over Hate

      V K KarthikaMarch 31, 2023

      Pathaan breaks the typical stereotype of Islamic Terrorism.

      Avatar

      Eastern Ethos Lifts up Cameron’s Avatar Sequel

      V K KarthikaJanuary 31, 2023

      Eastern ethos and laws of the nature are set to get a new tech-driven meaning as Cameron is planning two more sequels.

      Yazh

      Reviving Yazh, the Indian Harp

      V K KarthikaNovember 28, 2022

      Without Tharun, Yazh, an ancient instrument would not have taken birth in modern times

      Tholppavakoothu

      Girl Power up in Puppetry

      V K KarthikaSeptember 30, 2022

      Rajitha Ramachandra Pulavar and her team gave a new meaning to Tholppavakkooth and the body politics went in for a change in 2021

      Nanjiyamma tribal singer of Attappady

      Why the National Award for Tribal Singer Nanjiyamma Matters

      V K KarthikaAugust 27, 2022

      India witnessed a debate on the ‘purity of music’ when tribal singer Nanjiyamma won the National Award.

      EVENTS

      Musicophilia, the Piano Fest

      India Art ReviewAugust 30, 2023

      Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Conferring Ceremony

      India Art ReviewAugust 27, 2023
      Why Carnatic Music Matters More Than Ever: Part 1

      Carnatic Music Camp in San Diego From July 15 

      India Art ReviewJuly 6, 2023

      Mohiniyattam Workshop

      India Art ReviewMay 18, 2023

      Have You Read These?

      Youth

      The Fountain of Youth

      Vineeth AbrahamMay 16, 2023

      What will happen when a bookworm set out to clean his library? One of the…

      The Elephant Whisperers

      Poetics of Fostering the Animal: The Elephant Whisperers

      Babu Rajan P PMay 1, 2023

      With the decline of natural habitats, human-elephant conflict has seen a surge, often leaving the majestic creatures as unwitting participants. “The Elephant Whisperers” documentary pays homage to the conservation endeavors aimed at preserving these habitats and raising awareness among communities about the perils of anthropocentrism.

      1899 and the Virtual Studio: Futuristic Filmmaking

      IAR DeskMarch 12, 2023

      1899, the new web series from the creators of German masterpiece Dark, will be filmed entirely in a virtual studio. Here’s all you wanted to know about ‘Volume’ and why it matters to futuristic filmmaking.

      Yazh

      Reviving Yazh, the Indian Harp

      V K KarthikaNovember 28, 2022

      Without Tharun, Yazh, an ancient instrument would not have taken birth in modern times

      A ‘Lyrical Dance’ Tribute to Edassery’s Poem

      G S PaulNovember 8, 2022

      Choreographic ingenuity of Vinitha Nedungadi created alluring visuals of the sublime poetic imagination of Edassery in Anthithiri.

      vijayakumar menon

      Vijayakumar Menon Taught Kerala How to Appreciate Art

      Renu RamanathNovember 3, 2022

      The only wealth Menon amassed during his solitary journey was that of art. When Vijayakumar…

      About
      About

      India Art Review is a dedicated digital journal of art and culture, based in Chennai and with representatives in Kerala, Delhi, the UAE, Canada and the US.

      We're social, connect with us:

      Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Telegram
      People in Art
      Annapurna Devi & Chitti Babu: No Heads or Tails

      Annapurna Devi & Chitti Babu: No Heads or Tails

      October 20, 2020
      K P Narayana Pisharody: A Colossus of His Times

      K P Narayana Pisharody: A Colossus of His Times

      March 25, 2021
      Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

      Adieu, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

      May 10, 2022
      Kalamandalam John

      Kalamandalam John: Kerala’s Lone Christian Kathakali Artist Celebrates Golden Jubilee

      July 8, 2021
      Must Reads
      P K G Nambiar

      PKG Nambiar(1930-2023): The Man who Redefined the Role of Vidooshaka

      May 10, 2023
      Kanak Rele

      Dr. Kanak Rele (1937-2023): A Revolutionary in Dance 

      February 22, 2023
      Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

      Adieu, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

      May 10, 2022
      Lata Mangeshkar

      “Film music wasn’t hugely appreciated at home”: Lata Mangeshkar

      February 7, 2022
      Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube RSS
      • Home
      • About
      Copyright © 2022. India Art Review

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

      Go to mobile version