Thousands of people watched attractive tableaux of Ksheer Sagar in a historic pond near old Durga Mandir on Thursday night. The internationally famous Ramlila of Ramnagar, a trans-Ganga area, began with the birth of ‘Demon King’ Ravana at Lanka on the occasion of Anant Chaturdarshi as per Hindu calendar (September 28). The Ramlila will end on Sharad Purnima with Rajyabhishek of Lord Rama (October 28). The present ‘Kashi Naresh’ Kunwar Anant Narayan Singh and the royal family members were present as per tradition. His father late Dr Prabhu Narayan Singh, a popular figure among the local masses and the former Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) till his death, always maintained the tradition by taking part in various local festivals, including Ramnagar Ramlila, Bharat Milap of Nati Imli, Nag Nathaiya of Tulsi Ghat and others.

Ramnagar Ramlila drew global attention since UNESCO proclaimed the tradition of this Ramlila ‘a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity’ in 2005. Later, the Central government and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) produced a two-hour documentary entitled 'Ramlila'. Ramnagar Ramlila is still organised under the patronage of the royal family of the Banaras Estate, though funded by the state government since the abolition of Princely Estates.   The unique feature of this Ramlila is the use of petromaxes for lighting at the stage instead of electric lighting and artistes are selected on the basis of their loud voices as they do not use mikes. There are separate venues some of them are 1-2 kilometres away from each other for different shows. They are Janakpur, Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Panchvati and Lanka apart from some smaller  venues of some Rishis like Valmiki, Bharadwaj and others. This 31-day long Ramlila is known for its sets, dialogues, visual spectacle and permanent as well as temporary structures. Its uniqueness is the active participation of local people as when the marriage procession of Lord Rama is taken out, the audiences themselves become the ‘baratis’ and during the time of Rama’s ‘vanvas’ (exile), the scene generally turns gloomy there.

There are many beliefs about the starting of this famous Ramlila in the first half of 19th century. According to one belief, it is said that once when Maharaja Udit Narain was seeing the Ramlila at Assi, the place where Goswami Tulsidas had penned ‘Ramcharitmanas’, he was very sad as his son and prince Ishwari Narain Singh, who had credit to take the Ramlila to new heights, was very sick. During the show an artiste playing the role of Lord Rama gave a bead from his necklace to the Maharaja asking him to put it around the neck of his ailing son. The Maharaja did it and surprisingly his son showed improvement in his health. Later, the royal family itself started Ramlila in Ramnagar. According to another version, once Maharaja Udit Narain could not reach the nearby village of Chota Mirzapur where two brothers, Bhonu and Bithal Sahu, had organised the Ramlila, on time. When he reached there the programme of Dhanushyagya had concluded. The incident frustrated the Maharaja and after returning from there he narrated the same to his queen. Later on the advice of the Maharani, the Maharaja started organising the same in Ramnagar.

There is one more belief that when Maharaja was going on a pilgrimage to Jagdish Dham, he stayed at Kharagpur. During his stay he had a dream that instead of visiting the ‘dhams’ he should start Ramlila himself. As Maharaja Udit Narain ruled the estate up to 1835, it is said that the Ramnagar Ramlila was probably started in the beginning years of 19th century.