RAMLEELA
Article is taken from the book “Mohan Upreti : the man and his his art” written by
Shri Diwan singh Bajeli

"Kumaoni Ramleela is the longest Opera in the world" -a French Art Critic

Ramleela is immensly popular in kumaon . In some part of the region it is enacted during Dussehara in October-November. Only in a few parts it is entacted int the month of chitra. wherever kumaonis go in a sizeable number, they unite and stage it.

Kumaoni Ramleela(specially in almora) fired the imagination of Uday Shankar to Concieve Shadow Play Considered by a French Scholar as a biggest opera of the world, the original script of the Ramleela was written in 1860 by pundit Devi dutt Joshi who had mainly drawn from Tulsi Das Ramcharit Manas. It has also some elements of Sanskrit and some element of Parsi Theatre. The original stage combines a proscenium with a rectangular acting area open on three sides for the audience to sit.

Being an Opera , Music is an important aspect of Ramleela. To heighten to dramatic conflict ,dialogue in Hindi and Urdu are also incorporated. Elements of traditional theatres like the nautanki, naach, jatra and rasas are also borrowed. The ragas of Hindustani music mostly used are : Bihag, Bhairavi,Paraj, Khamach, Kalyan, Pelu, jaijaiwanti, Sohni Desa, Mand, Hammir, Kafi, Malkaus, Bhatiyar, jogia and bhopali .

Chaupayees and Dohas have musical content of their own . Distinct Musical notes are employed to distinguish character-types. The great Theatre Personality Mohan Upreti writes :”I think this musical characterization is an important achievement of this opera.

This Musical characterization has two broad divisions for which they have a local name. It is called Rakshashi and non- Rakshashi tarja. That is why Ram and Ravan rendered their Chaupayees in quite different musical forms. The same applies to other characters as well. The chaupayees having a non-Rakshashi tarja are sung in a slow tempo with raga khamach as their base and they produce an effect of peace and contentment, while the song sung by rakshashi tarja are sung in fast tempo, with notes of kalyani as their base which makes the music militant in tone. ”. Comic characters and jokes often use kumaoni dialect to evoke laughter.

he above outline suggests the intricacies of kmaoni Ramleela and the caliber of actor-singers required to enact the opera.