ASEAN is special for us this year. It is the silver jubilee anniversary of India’s joining ASEAN and leaders from all ten ASEAN countries are in the process of traveling to India for Republic Day celebrations. To commemorate the event, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, better known as ICCR has organized a 5 days long Ramayana festival at Kamani Auditorium. The event is happening between 20th – 24th January 2018 and you can check out our listing here. Thereafter, the festival travels to many other cities in India.

The epic Ramayana

The epic Ramayana has spread way beyond the current boundaries of India and have influenced lives in various parts of the world in amazing ways. We have seen a glimpse of it in a recent exhibition – Leela on Ramayana traditions at IGNCA. Ramayana is performed as a ballad in various countries of Southeast Asia. While there are minor deviations of the story, the win of good over evil theme is consistent. That said, each country has its own interpretation of the performance, and the variety is seen to be believed. ICCR is presenting performances from Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam during the festival.

We attended the inaugural evening when the festival was flagged off by the ceremonial lighting of a lamp by the Thai Ambassador in India and ICCR officers. This was followed by Ramakien in the Thai masked dance drama style, Khon. Ramakien is the ballad in the glory of Lord Ram in Thailand and Khon, the masked dance drama style is a well-known mode of presenting this work.

Two selected pieces from Ramayana were presented this evening. The performers started with “The Chase of the Golden Stag” and followed with the “Ram Ravan Battle“. The characters included Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Hanuman, Ravan, and Mareech (the Golden Deer). Ravan and Hanuman wore these gorgeous masks – colourful and designed with a lot of gold. These masks or their miniatures are very popular souvenirs from Thailand. The other performers were in bright traditional attire that seemed somewhat similar to what we are used to seeing in India. The dance movements were slow, restrained, and soft almost like a ballet. It reminded us of our very own Manipuri dance. The dance was accompanied Gamelan, the Thai orchestra that comprised a stick drum, a hand-played drum like our dhol, and a very gorgeously designed xylophone. The lyrical music ensemble added a whole lot of oomph to the show. While the narration accompanying the performance was in Thai language, its English translation was running on screens on the sides of the stage. It was heartening to see such an eye for details.

It was not a very long performance – just short and sweet. Like our very own Ram Lila, it was a combination of theatre and music. Ramakein was a very familiar and yet somewhat unusual retelling of our very own Ramayan. This was a very photogenic performance as well and we loved every moment.

Thank you ICCR for bringing the Ramayana Festival by ASEAN countries to us.