On the occasion of the Republic Day Parade 2016 at New Delhi, Uttarakhand’s tableau is all set to catch the people’s imagination as it would showcase the hoary cultural heritage the State known as Debobhomi embodies. ‘Ramman’ is a festival held every year in April at Salod-Dungra village in Chamoli district of the State. It depicts interesting episodes from the epic Ramayana presented in lokshaili or folk form.
The State Government sources said they had received a letter from the Ministry of Defence on December 22 to choose the tableau. They had sent proposals suggesting themes like Jageshwar Dham, Jhumalo and Ramman. The last one was finally selected.
Nodal officer of tableau, K S Chauhan said on Tuesdaythat the first meeting on the matter had been held in Delhi on October 21. “ In all, 52 proposals on tableaus sent from several states and ministries were discussed. Several other meetings followed on October 28,November 6, November 24 and December 2. The lastmeeting was held on December 14 during which tableaus from 15 states were finally selected. In case of Uttarakhand, Ramman was chosen as the theme of its tableau for this year’s R-Day parade,” he said.
“We are happy with the selection as the popular festival being celebrated in villages of Chamoli district still evokes tremendous response. It epitomizes the soul of the rich cultural heritage of the State that has been thriving for ages. Moreover, Chief Minister Harish Rawat instructed us to introduce Ramman as the theme of the State’s tableau ,” he added. The works on the tableau will be completed byDecember 31, he said, adding that the work has been going on at National Theatre Camp, New Delhi.
Notably, since Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in November 2000, eight tableaus have been presented on the occasion of Republic Day. They are Fhuldei in 2003, Nanda Rajjat in 2005, Valley of Flowers in 2006, Corbett National Park in 2007 , Adventure Tourism in 2009, Kumbh Mela , Haridwar in 2010, Herbs in 2014 and Kedarnath pilgrimage in 2015.