Bhalessa : A place.... Page 4 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/sunday-magazine "Your past does....Page 3 Of Ramleelas in Jammu Ashok Kumar Rama with Bharata) etc would bring tears in the eyes of the spectators,especially girls and the women. On the last In view of Covid_19 pandemic, day,some special scenes would be displayed attracting a large number of audience. On the recasion of Dussehra,big Ramleela, being telecast live by Door effigies of Demon king Ravana, Kumbhkarna and Meghnad Darshan during Navratris and also on were burnt to hive the message that good always triumphs over the evil. In those days,the role of female charcters was internet on You Tube Channel and other performed by men who did their best to convey the real feel- ings and emotions.The people from all communities cutting social media sites as 'Ayoudhya ki across caste,creed, religion and sect would participate in & Ramlila',has brought back memories of watch Ramleela. Surprisingly,all this was funded by the local people with no outside help and the actors received no mon- the days when Ramleela used to be ey for performing their role. Largely this performance organised and watched with great including the recitation of Bhajans would be based on Ram Chritmanas composed in the 16th century by Tulsidas. The pomp & show. venue used to be overcrowded and people would try to reach earlier to reserve a seat for them. For days together,we,as The fact that renowned Bollywood actors such as Raza children, used to be under the spell of Ramleela with deliv- Murad, Bindu Dara Singh, Asrani, Ravi Kishan,Shahbaz ering dialogues quite often as we played with eachother at Khan, Rakesh Bedi to name a few are enacting the various home or in the fields while grazing cattle or doing other important characters of Ramayana in 'Ayoudhya ki jobs.Though Ramleela, which used to be a religious, culture Ramlila',make it worth watching all the more. Lord Rama and festive event those days,they left an indelible impres- is reverred as the 7th incarnation of God Vishnu and He is sion on the minds of the viewers, especially the children and the central character of the Hindu scripture 'Ramayana' consciously or unconsciously, the values such as obedience, composed by Maharishi Balmiki.Thus,Ram Lilas, as the respect for elders, sacrifice, empathy, high sense of morali- name implies, are the venerated art forms performed on ty etc would be ingrained in them with the result that there the stage to depict the main events of the life of Lord Rama were few cases of conflicts,murders,suicides in those days including his birth, marriage, exile, abduction of Ma Sita by and people would be more tolerant, empathetic and coop- Demon King Ravana, sorrow and grief of Lord Rama and erative. Later, with the help of modern technology, Ram- Laxman and war with the Demon King Ravana culminat- leela used to be performed in a better way making use of ing in Ravana's death. Ramalilas which were declared as lights, sounds and other systems and role of female charac- one of the 'intangible cultural heritage for humanity ' by ters came to be performed by the women. UNESCO in 2008, are believed to have started hundreds of Excelsior/Rakesh Then came Ramananda Sagar's TV serial Ramayana years ago in India including the northern India. In our own which ushered in a revolution of some sort. The cities & Jammu region, Ramleela are said to have been performed Though Ramleela, which used to be a religious, culture and festive event those days,they left an indelible towns wore a deserted look during while the serial was tele- in Reasi, Basohli, Udhampur, Ramkot, Thial, Dewan cast. The young would carry the old on their backs to the Mandir, Jammu and many other parts of Duggar since the impression on the minds of the viewers, especially the children and consciously or unconsciously, the houses which had a TV set. There used to be huge rush of 19th or the early twentieth century and have been much people eager to watch Ramayana outside the TV shops. On popularwith the people converging from distant places to values such as obedience, respect for elders, sacrifice, empathy, high sense of morality etc would be the auspicious and important days such as birthdays, mar- watch Ram lilas at these places, though these were per- riage anniversaries/ceremonies, Mundans etc,the celebra- formed in every nook and corner of Jammu region. Estab- ingrained in them with the result that there were few cases of conflicts,murders,suicides in those days tions would invariably end with the playing of the CDs of lished in 1890, Durga Natak Academy, Reasi has been stag- and people would be more tolerant, empathetic and cooperative. Ramayana on the hired VCRs/VCPs and in some cases TV ing Ramleela carrying on the legacy of its founders. sets too. A large number of people from the adjoining vil- Acknowledged at the National level, Ramleela at Basohli Ramnagar used to attract a large number of people, who, interest of the viewers. Normally,Ramleela would start lages would coverge to watch Ramayana with the atmos- dates back to as early as 1911 and it continues to be one of in some cases, would hire buses to travel to long distances around 9 PM and end around 12 mid night. Only four or five phere turning solemn & religious. the most famous Ramleela in Jammu region. Thescenes to watch Ramleelas. scenes were displayed in one night after which it was time These days, though some people are trying to keep this such as glowing of Laxman Rekha, descending of Hanu- In the days gone by,as Navratris commenced and time of for the viewers to trek their long way back home in groups cultural and religious tradition alive, they are facing acute mana carrying the mountain with him etc are meticulous- Ramleelas came,there used to be a lot of enthusiasm and joy with discussion on the performance & role of various char- shortage of funds. People, especially the youth and the chil- ly planned and executed. Similarly ,in Udhampur & Garhi, in the people,especially the children. People would finish acters. A solemn and religious atmosphere would prevail at dren have little time to watch Ramleela as they prefer to Ram Kala Kendra and Mahavir Youth Kala Kendra respec- their domestic chores as early as possible so that they could the venue of Ramleela and the viewers responded enthusi- remained glued to their mobile phoes/other electronic tively did a yeoman's work in promoting Ramleela, which go to the venueswhere Ramleela used to be performed. At a astically with a loud 'Jai' as someone from the stage uttered gadgets rather than watching Ramleela. Generally, it is also produced many artists of eminence. Ramleela at time when financial condition of most of the people was not 'Sri Ram Chander ji ki'. An office bearer of the Ramleela Club thought that Ramleela are the shows to be watched by com- Ramkote dates back to as early as 1931 when Raja Raghu- so sound,they would carry pine twigs or torches in the dark would go to each spectator with a thali containing holy jyot moners.But the scenes showing triumph of good over evil, nath Singh father of the last king Raja Laxman Singh, start- nights to trek their long way to the venue of Ramleela. In and all the people would bow before the jyot and pour some dangers of lust, importance of loyality, respectfor elders, ed the tradition of performing Ramleelas. While curtains case of venue being near,some of them,especially the chil- donation in the thali. Viewers would also donate money to fraternal love, sacrifice etc have a great impact on the lives for the Ramleela were brought from Lahore, actors were dren, would carry their mats too with them. Ramleela used the Ramleela Clubs or award money to the actors for their of children and parents should encourage their children to invited from Jammu to stage Ram Leela. People from far to be performed in the open,there being generally only one excellent performance.During the day children would make watch Ramleela and actively participate in Vijay Dashmi & and wide used to converge at Ramkote to watch Ramleela or two rooms to store the costumes, bows and arrows and improvised bows and arrows in villages from sticks & twigs Dussehra celebrations to develop in them higher values of at Ramkote in the nineteen eighties. Ramleela staged by other paraphernalia or for the actors to get prepared for the and ropes and enact the various characters of Ramleela . The life. Ram Natak Club, Thial used to be so popular that people act. The married daughters would come to their paternal older boys would deliver dialogues between Lord Parshura- Ramleela is being telecast live daily from Laxman from the adjoining villages would trek for miles with torch- homes to watch Ramleela in case there was no Ramleela ma & Lakshmana, Angada and Ravana, Ravana and Jatayu Qila,Ayodhya by Door Darshan from 7 PM to 9 PM during es and burning twigs to watch Ramleela at Thial.The his- being staged near their homes. During the Navratris,it was and other characters and sang Bhajans sung in Ramleela. Navratris and many famous actors such as Raza Murad, toric Ramleela organised in the premises of Shri Sanatan almost like a mela at the place where Ramleela was per- With a lot of time at their disposal and in the absence of Asrani, Vindu Dara Singh, Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan etc Dharam Natak Samaj, Dewan Mandir, Jammu is said to formed. Some hawkers,especially dealing in eatables and tea social media,they would amuse themselves by playing vari- are performing the role of various characters of Ramayana. have been performed for more than a century and a half had a brisk business. As it took a lot of time for the actors to ous characters and often memorising the dialogues. The (The writer is serving as lecturer in English in Govt. Hr.Sec.School, Thial and is still very popular with the people.In the same way, prepare for the next scene,generally some comic or religious pathetic scenes such as Sita Haran (kidnapping of Sita), Ram (Udhampur) Ramleela performed at Jaganoo, Panthal, Bhaddu, Katra & act was performed or some Bhajan recited to sustain the Banwaas (Rama's exile), Bharat Milap (Reunion of Lord GI TAGS for Jammu Products Kaladi Mahajan sciousness among other Indians vis-a-vis J and K as they have been led to believe that everything emanating and Culture forms an essential, rock solid pedestal for originating from Jammu and Kashmir is having an over- every society on which stands the major beliefs and bearing Kashmiri character, which, of course, comes as a value systems guiding a particular civilization towards blatant posturing to promote a common overarching their respective meaningful ends. The same stands true agenda of a monolithic Kashmiri hegemony. for the Dogra Civilization as well, which has been reeling Let's understand this by taking an example of Basohli under intense crisis for far too long now. The cultural Pashmina. Once, the Basohli Pashmina was as famous heritage and traditional motifs have been relegated to as the one coming from Kashmir. However, lately, this reach a level of all but insignificance. Neither do the industry witnessed 'apartheid' by the Kashmir centric masses care and nor the government. This has brought governments. As narrated by Shiv Kumar Padha, this led us quite closer to what I call an existential crisis, the very to the mass scale unemployment among the man power threat which can endanger our language in particular involved in the manufacturing of Pashmina Shawls at and culture in general. This rugged apathy towards Basohli as the successive governments of this state Jammu region is perhaps the last straw that can break stopped the supply of the raw Pashmina to the Pashmina the camel's back. Everything pertaining to Jammu is industry at Basohli. He further explains that Jammu A still of Basholi Painting and Calico Printing of Samba either ignored or bundled within the larger Kashmiri and Kashmir Governments have been supplying raw narrative which essentially undermines the existence of pashmina wool of good quality to the Kashmiri units manner. This shall happen only when an enabling envi- nance has already made the crafts of Jammu to vanish in Jammu region and raises questions over the administra- from the government depots at subsidized rates, where- ronment is provided by the government to all the stake- the thin air, but this can't go on till eternity. Jammu, tive functionaries who let it happen right under their as the units in Basohli (Jammu province) are compelled holders involved. Hence, providing GI Tags should be therefore, must rise to the occasion and demand for the noses. to purchase second rate pashmina from the open mar- the very first effort in the reclamation of our material inclusion of its heritage in this registry. Not too long ago, Recently, the Kashmiri Saffron was granted a GI tag, kets of Himachal Pradesh at high rates. This highhand- culture in order to provide them a legal protection while JKNC's Provincial President Davinder Singh Rana thus including it within a gamut of items from Kashmir edness by the Kashmir centric governments have ruined granting them a geographical specificity underlining raised a pitch for including some products from Jammu to get a such a place in a nationally recognized registry. the household based Basohli industries, majority of their quality and authenticity. into GI Registry but such an isolated attempt hasn't ruf- Now, a question arises as to why a variety grown from whom were having hand to mouth existence. For instance, the Pahari Paintings of Basohli, Chickri fled many feathers . Kashmir was chosen over the Kishtwari one Sadly, this is not an isolated case, the successive apa- Woodcraft of Rajouri, Jeera of Padar, Rajma of If one has to really work in this direction, then all the (Kung/Lohit), especially when the latter is considered to thy of the state apparatus has rendered other native Marwah/Bhaderwah, Kalari Cheese of Udhampur, political functionaries and stakeholders from Jammu be superior in quality, fragrance and usefulness than the industries of Jammu to go into packing. For instance, Binna making craft of Kishtwar, Jammu Phulkari must come on a common platform, devoid of any politi- one found in Kashmir. It's seriously bewildering that the Calico Printing of Samba, which gave the town a spe- ,Basohli Rumals, Desi Barfi of Thandi Khui etc deserve cal shenanigans. Ladakh has already provided the lead- except for one, all the GI Tags from Jammu and Kashmir cial moniker as 'Shitawala Shehr', has been ignored and protection under such a registry. Not only this shall ers of Jammu with a template to replicate upon. If are from the Kashmir Valley. The one exception is of today, only a handful of people are associated with this allow our local producers to expand their reach but also Ladakh can do it for the safety of its culture and lan- Basmati rice of Jammu belt but that too has been includ- craft. Though some attempts have been undertaken late- promote the Jammu region at the national horizon, thus guage, Jammu too can, if only a mature and sophisticat- ed in the registry in a non-exclusive manner along with ly viz to reskill people, provide quality wooden blocks establishing itself as an independent centre of craft and ed political consensus is evolved. Unmindful of what the rice grown in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab Haryana, but most of these efforts are but half hearted. This rueful trade, different from Kashmir. Apart from that, it can they've lost, Jammu civil society, in particular and the Delhi and western UP. This has been another major treatment meted out to Jammu based skilled enterpris- also boost tourism, stabilize prices, streamline supply residents, in general have also not been proactive in issue and, a rather crippling one for the people of es which are unique in their content, style and character chains and lead to the preservation of the traditional their demands. Hence, to bring back the lost sheen and Jammu region just because of the plain fact that by such have made us ponder about the inherent priorities of the knowledge and expertise. vibrancy to our culture, it's essential that a unanimous insidious inclusions the culture and heritage of Jammu erstwhile state government. Politically also, this shall pass a symbolic message of demand is raised from Jammu to revive its stultified region is being ignored, scuttled and being pushed to the It's therefore, necessary that we reclaim our heritage Jammu being an equal partner in this UT, which other- industries, empower its degenerate masses and develop wall. This has also led to the development of false con- and further our efforts to reinvigorate it in a sustainable wise is not true at all. The Kashmir's apparent domi- a unique identity.