The recent rendition of Shri Ram directed by danseuse Shobha Deepak Singh incorporated the dance forms of Chaau, Dandiya and Kalaripayattu in the choreography. She tells Utpal K Banerjee that this time AV projections have been used during the performance
What is it that makes the epic Ramayana of such panoramic dimensionsIJ As the sub-continent’s civilisation progressed, there were the Buddhist Ramayana, then the Jain Ramayana, and finally the Sikh Ramayana. There were diverse regional versions of the Ramayana written by various authors in India and some of them differed very significantly from each other. There have been the 12th-century Kamba Ramayanam in Tamil; the 14th-century Telugu version, Ranganatha Ramayanam by Gona Budda Reddy; and the early-14th century Saptakanda Ramayana in Assamese by Madhava Kandali. Valmiki’s Ramayana inspired Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulsidas in 1576: as an epic Awadhi version with a slant grounded in bhakti and an acknowledged masterpiece. Gujarati poet Premanand wrote a 17th-century
version.
Other versions included the 14th-century Bengali Ramayana by Krittibas; the 16th-century Odia version by Balarama Das; the 16th-century Torave Ramayana in Kannada by Narahari; Adhyathma Ramayanam Kilippattu; the 16th-century Malayalam version by Tunccattu Ezhuttaccan; the 18th-century Marathi version by Sridhar; the 19th-century Maithili version by Chanda Jha; and the 20th-century, state-poet Kuvempu’s Sri Ramayana Darshanam in Kannada. Incidentally, Mappillapattu — a genre of music popular among the Muslims from Kerala and lakshadweep — incorporated several episodes from the Ramayana into its songs. The latter, known as Mappila Ramayana, was handed down from one generation to another orally. In Mappila Ramayana, the story of Rama is changed into that of a sultan, but other characters were retained in the same way.
If one extends the epic’s horizon to south and south-east Asia, its grip on popular psyche is mind-boggling. Phra lak Phra lam is a lao-language version, whose title comes from lakshmana and Rama. The siblings’ story is told as the previous life of the Buddha. In Hikayat Seri Rama of Malaysia, Dasharatha is the great-grandson of the Prophet Adam. Ravana receives boons from Allah, instead of Brahma. In Thailand’s re-told epic, the Ramakien, the tale is popular in traditional dance-theatre. Rama (Yama) and Sita (me thida) are popular in Yama Zatdaw, the Burmese version of the Ramayana. The Cambodian version of Ramayana, the Reamker, is the most famous story of Khmer literature. It adapts the Hindu concepts to Buddhist themes and shows the balance of good and evil in the world. In Cambodia, it is not confined to the realm of literature but extends to all Cambodian art forms, such as, sculpture, Khmer classical dance-theatre (as foundation of the royal ballet), poetry and the mural and bas reliefs: seen at Angkor Wat.
In Thailand’s popular national epic, the Ramakien (Glory of Rama), Sita is the daughter of Ravana and Vibhisana (phiphek, ‘vivek’), the astrologer-brother of Ravana, predicts calamity from the horoscope of Sita. Ravana has her thrown into the waters, to be rescued by Janaka. While clothes, weapons, topography, and elements of nature are all Thai, the epic has expanded role for Hanumana: portrayed as a lascivious character. Other south-east Asian adaptations include Kakawin Ramâyana of Java, Ramakavaca of Bali (Indonesia), Maharadia lawana and Darangen of Mindanao (Philippines).
Sri Ram presented recently by SBKK and — after running annually without interruption since 1957 — captured the Ramayana’s variegated context. Directed with aplomb by Shobha Deepak Singh, still-prevailing values were upheld (like Ahalya’s return from stony stupor); moral space was defined (like gullibility of transgression of the ‘lakshmana Rekha’); steadfast holding on to truth and righteousness was established (like Rama’s firmness on sticking to parental dictum); penalty for indiscretion was emphasised (like Dasharatha paying for killing the blind hermit’s son); low-caste prejudice was trounced (like Rama’s accepting fruits from Shabari); and a myriad other verities were seen to be kept in tact, including the constant quest for spiritual salvation.
And all this was done with splendorous showmanship. Dance choreography was superb. Said the choreographer Shashidharan Nair, “I’ve used plenty of folk-styles like Dandiya of Gujarat, Chhau of Mayurbhanj, besides Kalari-payattu of Kerala and the classical genres.” Music played an excellent complementary role. The composer Biswajeet Roychoudhuri elaborated, “Ragas have been mostly classically based, like Shankara for ode to Shiva, Darbari and Des for festive moods”.
Excerpts from interaction with the director:
What changes did you introduce from the earlier yearsIJ
Choreography, costumes and lights underwent alterations. A lot of AV projections were introduced. Many new dancers stepped in and often in importnat roles.
Did you keep Rama as a paragon of virtueIJ
Not really, his perceived blemishes were equally brought out, like the unjust killing of Bali or Sita’s unfair fire-ordeal for chastity.
In contrast, lakshmana remains very human…
Exactly, he gets angry when provoked and does show his wrath. The contrast is obvious and quite dramatic.
Is Sita meant to be meekIJ
Not at all, she does not walk behind her husband and does show her real self as an independent and complete human being.