This Deepawali will be the first after the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Each staging of the Ramlila—up until Deepawali—has been and will be special this year. Witnessing the thriving heritage of the Ramayana in nations that share the performative legacy of this great epic is spiritually rewarding for India and its people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known for appreciating such cultural rewards. He recently watched an episode of the Lao Ramayana—Phalak Phalam or Phra Lak Phra Ram—during his visit to Lao PDR at the ASEAN Summit. Performed by the prestigious Royal Theatre of Luang Prabang, Phalak Phalam unfolded before Modi amidst the auspices of Navratri.
The Lao Ramayana is a living testament to the civilisational heritage connecting India with Laos for centuries. It represents a commitment to preserving cultural ties, cradling the practice of retelling the story of Ram, and showcasing this devotion and artistry as an integral part of Lao PDR’s heritage.
Ramayana is the soul of cultural connections between India and ASEAN nations. The expression of these connections has become stronger during the last 10 years of Modi-led India. Ramayana has bridged the shores between India and these nations for centuries. The linear imagery and symbolism of a “setu”—the bridge between nations separated by borders, rulers, politics and political fortunes—itself has been part of the Indian cultural consciousness for ages.
For the devotee of Ram, the building of the Ram Setu—as an event and episode in the Ramayana—governs the worship and understanding of those Ram bhakts who helped Ram and Lakshman reach Sita. Ram Setu, as a bridge, link and extension to Ram’s beloved, stands as perhaps the first tangible heritage synonymous with the love between Ram and Sita.
Ram, the Ramayana and Ramlila together reached the shores of Southeast Asia, building a bridge between Bharat—the land of Ram—with his bhakts. The great Chola rulers carved new voyages—political, civilisational and cultural. Expressions of devotion to Ram, Hanuman, Sita, and Lakshman are still alive today in the temples, temple towns, stone carvings, and Ramlilas across Southeast Asian nations. The harnessing of these centuries-old connections in contemporary politics is what counts for India in bilateral ties.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be confidently said about India’s relationship with its neighbours. India has missed the opportunity to strengthen its bilateral ties with Nepal through the Ramayana, despite their geographical proximity and shared cultural heritage. Ayodhya and Janakpur, the homes of Ram and Sita, are deeply significant for devotees in both nations, yet this connection has not been fully leveraged, even with the establishment of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
No sea separates the two nations. Over bridges spanning gorges, over the river Kali, and through check posts, the journey of Ramlila could have become exemplary in 70 years. It has not. This is exactly where India now needs to focus its efforts.
The RRR of India-Nepal Relationship
In its third term, the Modi government needs to reassess and rethink the strategies that strengthen bilateral relations with Nepal. India must reinvent and reinvigorate the language of cultural engagement, particularly emphasising the shared dharma-based heritage. Among the mutual and complementary aspects of the relationship, culture—specifically rooted in dharma—should be the central focus. The spelling out has to be done in bold letters and voice. “Ram,” “Ramlila,” “Ramayana”- the RRR of the India-Nepal relationship.
There is more spelling out needed — “Dusshera,” “Ayodhya,” “Janakpur,” “Hindu”. When this happens, the spelling out of strenuous words such as “Agniveer,” “Kalapani,” “1950 Treaty,” “China,” “border,” “history,” and “facts” will not only become less burdensome but may also lead to solutions and reduce the chances of passionate escalations.
The Modi-led Neighbourhood First policy should focus on fostering intimate and internal trajectories with Nepal, driven by a swift realisation that these paths will centre on devotion to, and the heritage of, Ram and Sita as the core of the relationship. In essence and representation, these internal trajectories are and will continue to be rooted in dharma, a resurgence of dharmic values, and the maximisation of the potential for dharmic celebration.
In keeping the focus on mutually beneficial realms of relations, Ramlila, the celebration of Ramlila, collaborative work on Ramlila between India and Nepal, and the staging of Ramlila emerging from new partnerships should take a leading role. This is an achievable cornerstone for fostering stability and reformulating cultural relations. It will enable every aspect of diplomacy to find fertile ground, where bridges and brotherhood are seen as components of spiritual complementarity rather than mere objectives.
The work on mutually beneficial areas, reducing divisions, and building stronger people-to-people connections can be erected on this foundation.
This is why New Delhi needs to rethink its view of Janakpur as Nepal’s prime religious centre. It must aim for a series of positive cultural measures focused on Ramlila collaborations, pilgrimages, and joint festivities from Shivaratri to Chaitra, with Dussehra and Deepawali as the high points in the bilateral calendar. These efforts are essential for India to encourage Nepal, lovingly, to see its southern neighbour in a warmer light than the appropriating northern one.
Once Ramlila takes centre stage, India and Nepal may witness improvements in how they approach economic and strategic partnerships, resolve issues, and safeguard their respective historical interests. As Nepal’s largest trading partner, a key recipient of its potential in hydroelectricity, and a compassionate neighbour always ready to assist during earthquakes or floods, India plays an encouraging role in bolstering Nepal’s efforts in areas such as highway and rail connectivity, telecommunications, and trade. Furthermore, India must remain attuned to Nepal’s position amid China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ambitions—seven years on, Nepal and China are still at odds over BRI execution. Collaborative Ramlila celebrations can strengthen this relationship.
India must aim to reach a juncture in its relations with Nepal where the latter grows more impatient with China. This shift would be rooted in trust developed through shared dharmic values. When such a transformation occurs, India may find that Nepal increasingly views China as falling short of expectations. The trust and goodwill fostered by Ramlila-inspired collaboration can provide both nations with a deeper dimension of devotion-based affection, creating a bond strong enough to overcome even the most challenging obstacles.
The Legacy of Pithoragarh’s Jhoolaghat Ramlila
While the effectiveness of joint Ramlila celebrations as a potent cultural bridge between India and Nepal is being discussed, it is pertinent to highlight the importance of the Jhoolaghat Ramlila to India-Nepal ties and to the celebration of Ramlila itself.
Jhoolaghat, located on the Indo-Nepal border in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, derives its name from the presence of a bridge across the Kali river, connecting India and Nepal. This bridge could symbolically serve as a link to the preservation of a Ramlila that is collaborative in effort, form, and essence. Jhoolaghat is renowned for its Ramlila tradition, which has now spanned 123 years, binding the people of the villages on both sides of the international border through the celebration of shared religious and cultural ties.
The first Jhoolaghat Ramlila, with actors and audiences from both India and Nepal, was performed in 1901, during British rule in India. According to local accounts from pujaris, artists, and Ramlila enthusiasts, the performance took place under the light of burning pine (cheerh) wood, whose warm glow added to the vibrancy of the costumes and ornaments.
This writer spoke to Sadanand Bhatt, one of the leading preservers of the Jhoolaghat Ramayana. He says, “Gradually, petroleum lamps replaced the burning cheerh, but the enthusiasm and participation remained unchanged over time. The audience from Nepal would give a rousing response to the Chaupais in popular episodes during the musical retelling. The use of ragas such as Malkauns and Asavari was appreciated by bhakts on both sides. The language of the retelling was neither Kumaoni nor Nepali, yet the staging wove a new language of camaraderie and warmth.”
Each day of the Ramlila would see the people of India and Nepal mingling as actors, bhakts, and audience members, retelling the story of Ram and the Ramayana. Decades later, in independent India, the preservers of the Ramlila turned to literature on formal theatre. A section of the Bhatt family of Pithoragarh took on the responsibility of preserving the rawness in the production that had been nurtured in Jhoolaghat and passed down by their elders in theatrical form. Sadanand Bhatt adds: “A well-known scholar and expert on Ramlila, Bulaki Ram-ji, was one of the key figures in refining the production. Ragas and raginis were introduced to the existing format, where the Chaupais from the Ram Charitmanas served as representations of the episodes. Around 40-50 years ago, several actors from both Nepal and India would compete for a single role. I myself remember competing with seven actors to ‘win’ the role of Shatrughna. Today, we struggle with choice.”
Sadanand Bhatt recalls that each staging would end around 2 a.m. After the culmination of each performance, the actors and audience hailing from Nepal would carry burning cheerh in their hands and walk back home to the villages of Baitadi district in Nepal. “It used to be an inspiring spectacle to behold from the Indian side. They would return the next day to attend the next ‘manchan’. The cycle would continue for 14 days and come to an end with the episode of the Raj Tilak of Ram. Unfortunately, all that changed over the decades owing to the changing political equations and situations. Stringent rules and restrictions regarding the movement of people from both sides and the presence of the SSB are the primary reasons for the thinning of mutual participation in the Ramlila.”
He mentions that the participation of Nepali actors and audience members is nearly absent now. “Decades ago, the Vyakhyana Karta (narrator and prompter) for the Jhoolaghat Ramlila came from Nepal. Several musicians came from Nepal. Today, the Nepalis among the actors and audience arrive days ahead of rehearsals to avoid travel-related problems.”
According to him, it has become the norm for actors from Nepal to arrive early for the rehearsals and stagings. The situation was different 30-40 years ago when the turnout for the Ramlila was in full glory—both in participation and audience.
The Need – A Jhoolaghat Ramlila Movement
This year, however, the 14-day Ramlila will be staged in November, weeks after Dusshera. “This is because we faced challenges regarding training a new crop of actors for the Ramlila. Though the ritualistic importance of the timing of Ramlila, which is performed in the days leading to Dusshera and culminates on Dusshera, will not be fulfilled, sometimes maintaining the continuity of a tradition becomes important.”
It’s a pity that the dwindling, and now almost absent, mutual participation—which was the focal point and the throbbing core of the Jhoolaghat Ramlila—has posed challenges to its thriving on home turf instead. This is not a symptom; it is the disease. It is a glimpse of what the future holds if Nepal and India do not nurture their own heritage. It indicates what a potent medium of Ramlila—lasting almost a century—can achieve across a border when it thrives. It is a sign of things to come when the celebration of dharma is relinquished. The right first aid in this case would be PM Modi and Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami promoting the heritage of Jhoolaghat Ramlila. The right long-term action would be to create at least 50-100 Jhoolaghat Ramlila movements, with this Ramlila as a prototype in partnership, during the next 10 years in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
Moving On From ‘Roti-Beti Ka Rishta’ To ‘Ram-Siya Legacy’
To explore this aspect, India needs to consider choosing an alternative to the conventional and defining phrase “roti-beti ka rishta.” The domesticated and patriarchal connotations in the phrase “roti-beti ka rishta” are less problematic than the reluctance and hesitation demonstrated in leading an Ayodhya-destined outlook towards Janakpur as a destination. In the year when India is moving towards the first Deepawali celebration after the building of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, and in the years to come, India and Nepal need to switch to the potent and civilisational glue—devotion for Ram and Sita, the celebration of the Ramayana, Ram-bhakti, and Sita-bhakti. As soon as the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, Ayodhya opened up to the idea of exploring shared heritage with distant lands.
In 2018, South Korean First Lady Kim Jung-sook became part of the Deepawali celebrations in Ayodhya—the home of Princess Suriratna, who is believed to have travelled to South Korea 2,000 years ago. Ayodhya’s deep and centuries-old connection with South Korea came to the fore in 2000-01 during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government. In South Korea’s history, the lineage of the queen is known as the Karak dynasty. The BJP was able to bring its work full circle between two PMs in less than two decades.
The Modi-Yogi team can pull off a series of admirable milestones in Nepal-India relations for the following reasons. First, they are dharma-inclined. Second, they have the admirable capability of moulding devotion into culture and politics. Third, that moulding of devotion into culture and politics can act as a courageous converter in bilateral relations between Indian states and Nepali anchals. Fourth, Modi and Yogi usually excel at building rejuvenation from situational greys—even from political lows, commotion, and rubble. Finally, Yogi, owing to his demeanour as a Sanyasi, and Modi, as a politician who has demonstrated the shedding of his own stature for the greater good in domestic politics, would keep dharma first for Ram, Ramayana, and Ramlila as the reasons and path to bilateral ties.
Harnessing The People Power of Ramayana and Ramlila
The Modi-led government must consider a key perspective: in the celebration of the building of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the people of Nepal have indicated what could become the sturdiest basis for ‘people-to-people’ connections. Last year, when the Salagram shila (rock) was dispatched after rituals and celebrations in Janakpur, the people of Nepal expressed their heartfelt joy along the route taken by the vehicle carrying the rock. The dharmic sentiment of the people surged as the ‘shila’ arrived from Galeshwar Dham in Janakpur and made its way to Ayodhya. Last year in Ayodhya, I witnessed the fervour with which pilgrims from across India offered worship to the Salagram shila. A citizen of Nepal even told me over the phone that there should be “a sacred space dedicated to Janakpur Dham at the Ram Mandir premises.” The sound of mutual expectations in dharmic continuity is sweet. Expectations create the groundwork for action.
For perhaps the first time since independence, this event visibly installed a celebration of Ram, Ramayana, and Sita on an extraordinary emotional scale. For the first time since independence, it revealed the power of a positive event reflecting the people as devotees—a fortunate contrast to any events brought about by nature’s fury or the violent convulsions of political circumstances.
It retold and reminded Ram bhakts in India that even Nepalis had waited for five centuries. As more people joined the procession of the Salagram shila, the wheels of time turned towards a future that would evolve from a sense of “commonalities” to “own heritage.” The procession presented images of a journey towards cultural convergence for years to come. New Delhi and Kathmandu must allow Ayodhya and Janakpur to find their place in diplomacy and in people-to-people connections as seats of “own heritage.”
This was, or should have been, India’s chance to realign the forces, tone, and language of engagement and partnership. This was India’s opportunity to extend a celebration to Nepal, recognising that the people of Nepal, like us, represent the other half of a civilisational whole in their devotion to Sita, Ram, and the Ramayana. Since the building of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Nepali pilgrims have visited India in huge numbers for pilgrimage, many bringing gifts as offerings for Ram—whom they consider their “damaad” (son-in-law).
The path to bolstering political, trade, security, and people-to-people connections between New Delhi and Kathmandu should pass through the dynamics of Ayodhya-Janakpur partnerships. This will not only help India soften the business-like tone reflected in problematic media labels—such as “big brother”—but will also mitigate some setbacks in the India-Nepal relationship that emerged during the previous decade, particularly in 2015.
Keeping China On A Backfoot In Nepal
It will carve out and illuminate the uniqueness of natural partnerships based on common elements of ritualistic realms, culture, festivals, devotion, communities, language, the arts, folklore, and military history. This is what India needs to utilise—down to each grain—to counter China’s growing influence in Nepal. While India’s relationship with Nepal is rooted in tangible goals and cooperation, a bond based on character and the idea of a spiritually woven family is more likely to overshadow politics of expansionism and geopolitical dominance than mere dialogue.
The devotion for Ram and Sita, finding expression in the symbolic destination of Ramlila and enriched by people, language, and regional sensibilities—regardless of the border that gives them political representation—would act like a roving beacon placed at the peak of the Himalayas. China would struggle to decipher its helix and dynamics, which is essential for keeping it on a cultural and political backfoot in Nepal.
Owing to the nature of Nepal’s domestic politics, its sharp political fluctuations, and China’s hawkish perspective on Nepal, the country faces limitations in resolving some long-standing issues of contention and conflict with India. However, these limitations are conquerable. The lens of Ram-Siya-Ramlila can help replace the constricted compulsions of the “roti-beti ka rishta” with a more introspective view of domestic and geopolitical developments. It will make people more resilient to ideological nuances that oppose Ram and the Ramayana in domestic politics—both in India and Nepal.
Should situations arise, the new perspective in which Ramlila and the two destinations of Janakpur and Ayodhya uphold the common good will eventually become irreplaceable.
The Dynamics of Documentation
Ramlila is performative in nature. Here are some essentials not to forget about Ramlila: its mobility, flexibility, and uniqueness to different regions; its ability to keep devotees engaged through retellings; its power to unite devotees by reflecting on their shared past; its generational reach; and its enrichment through both oral and written traditions. Its journey is made possible by music and ‘abhinaya’. Above all, Ramlila embodies a dual nature as both a form of artistic documentation and a provocateur of community documentation through its presentations. The energies involved in viewing a collaborative effort—whether it’s Ramlila from Nepal touring India, Ramlila from India touring Nepal, or Ramlila featuring actors and audiences from both countries—will evolve just as they have within ASEAN nations, resonating with younger generations and their cross-generational sensibilities.
In the local context, the journey of the Ramlila of Jhoolaghat serves as a case in point. Each Ramlila moulds itself in response to the challenges it faces, the limitations it circumvents, and the scarcity of funds and audiences it endures. Kailash Bhatt, affectionately referred to as “Guruji” by the people of Pithoragarh, provides an example: “In 2001, we were invited to Panthuri in Pithoragarh to help the local Ramlila samiti revive their staging and audience, which had ceased for some time. Thanks to our efforts, Ramlila was revived there and continues to thrive two decades later. Our next focus will be Gaurihat (Pithoragarh). Looking back, a Ramlila that once flourished due to the involvement of Nepali audiences and actors has lost that mutual fervour, yet it continues to inspire others in the same district.”
Both India and Nepal need to reform their trajectories in building a strong foundation for amicably resolving border disputes and geopolitical escalations. Each time India and Nepal find themselves hurtling towards an escalation over Kalapani, Lipulekh, or Limpiyadhura, they should remember the journey that begins from Devprayag, passing through Ayodhya and leading to Janakpur. They should associate the River Kali with its motherly fierceness, over which many bhakts of Ram and Sita have travelled for the Ramlila of Jhoolaghat.
This association will help both nations understand that siblings who may not eat together or live in the same home can still worship together, sing Chaupais from the Ram Charitmanas, fight larger battles side by side, and most importantly, create, protect, and preserve their shared heritage together.
Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
Comments
0 comment