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Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India
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Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright Manage No EE00000097 Country India ICH Domain Performing Arts Social practices, rituals, festive events Address Village Saloor Dungra, Painkhanda Valley, District-Chamoli, Division-Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India.
| Description | The Ramman is a form of traditional ritual theatre celebrated every year in the courtyard of the temple of Bhumiyal Devta situated in Saloor Dungra Village in Painkhanda valley of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. The village deity of Saloor Dungra is Bhumichetrapal, also known as Bhumiyal Devta. Historical accounts of the preexisting tradition are available since 1911. In the Hindu month, Baisakh (April-May), on the sankranti day, Bhumiyal Devta comes out in a procession to the temple. On the second day of the festival, people offer hariyali (sprouted barley plants), to the deity, which has ecological reference. Every day, the Bhumiyal Devta takes a round of the village. The main components of the masked performance are as follows: ▶Celestial Aspect -Dance of Ganesh-Kalinki (Parvati) -The dance of Sun God: Enactment of creation-myth and birth of Brahma and Ganesh. -Bur Deva (Narad): Rani-Radhika dance. -Bur Deva Raja dances along with Gopi Chand (Sri Krishna) and Rani Radhika (Gopis) on different beats and gestures. ▶Temporal Mwar-Mwarin Dance: The dance shows the travails of the buffalo herders in their hazardous journey through the jungle to the hills. A tiger is shown attacking and injuring the Mwar. Baniya-Baniyain Nritya (Dance of the Trader-Couple): It shows hardships of the common people. The episode shows robbers attacking and looting the merchant couple. ▶Performance The performance then shifts towards the enactment of the local Ramkatha, the core Rama story. Episodes from Rama’s life are sung. The dance is performed on 18 different beats yielding a total 324 beats and steps. The episodes enacted and sung are: -Ram-Lakshman’s visit to Janakpur -Sita’s Swyamwar -Hanuman Milan (Meeting with Hanuman) -Swarna Mrig Vadh (killing of the Golden deer) -Sita Haran (Abduction of Sita) -Lanka Dahan (Burning of Lanka) -Raj Tilak (Coronation ) There are other dances and episodes like Maal Nritya, Koorjogi and Narsingh Pattar Nritya. ▶Historical Aspect -Maal Nritya: Rama story is followed by the historical battle between the Gurkhas of Nepal and the local Garhwalis. Two dancers carrying weapons move on to the central performing arena, enacting a battle scene. They are comical in looks, attire and gestures. -Maal artists are four in number, two red and two white, respectively representing the Gorkhas and the Garhwalis. It is mandatory to have a red Maal from the Kunwar caste of the Rot hamlet, Saloor village, as it is believed that this hamlet supported the Gorkhas. The other three are selected by the Gram Panchas. One white Maal each is chosen from the twin villages and the remaining red Maal comes from village Dungra. This performance manifests past valour and bravery, sums up the total religious and aesthetic experience of the community, and renegotiates its identity and place in the bigger cosmic drama every year. ▶Ecological Aspect Ramman is an agrarian festival in celebration of ties between man, nature and the divine. Maize and barley seeds, sprouted in ritual pots, are offered to Bhumiyal Devta who, in turn, promises prosperity to all, including agricultural yield and forest produce. -Koorjogi: This episode is of immense ecological relevance. Various harmful weeds (koor) in the village fields are pulled out by Koorjogi (character who carries a sack full of these weeds). One of the most joyous moments in the series is throwing thorny weeds on each other, creating a mayhem of goodwill and merriment, establishing a sense of community and harmony. -Make-up of Artists: The Ramman performance involves use of masks and make-up using sheep’s wool, honey, vermilion, wheat flour, oil, turmeric, soot and locally grown plants and vegetables. -Masks are made from wood of local trees and this involves lengthy rituals. ▶Musical Aspect -Drumming Tradition: The performance revolves around playing of drums by Das drummers from the lowest caste, whose status is elevated during the performance. -Jagar Tradition: Jagaris or Bhallas of Rajput caste are professional bards and sing oral epics and legends (Jagars). The festival ends with a feast where the prasada of the deity is distributed as sacrament. |
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| Social and cultural significance | As an art form, Ramman is a total theatre. It combines religious, ritual, customary, social and historical dimensions with oral, literary, visual, kinetic and traditional craft forms. These have co-existed in a lively relationship of exchange and interaction for more than hundred years. The festival is celebrated combining the votive or religious sensibility, physical action and social and aesthetic needs of the community. The synthesis between the folk and classical and the oral and textual traditions of the region forge a unique cultural and historically specific performative genre. With a cluster of performances, multiple narratives, musical texts, costumes and masks, innovative organization and a ritual play conversation, the Ramman is more than a theatrical presentation. It is a statement on the ecological, spiritual and social viewpoint of the community, through a unique mode of presentation. |
| Transmission method | Ramman is held every year and children learn by watching it. Thus, the festival itself is a source of oral transmission of various components of the heritage. Specific training is required in the skills of dancing, singing and drumming. Each of these roles and techniques is caste specific, and the skill is transmitted within the family or caste group on a hereditary basis. This is a region-centered art and people around this region have to look after and train the next generation to keep this alive. There is no school or college or established institution, which teaches this tradition. It still follows the format of the traditional mode of the local samajik parampara (face to face societal transmission). Given its oral character, the responsibility of transmission is shouldered by the community elders. |
| Community | All sections of the Hindu community including the scheduled castes of the Garhwal Division in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India. Villagers from Saloor-Dungra are the main bearers of Ramman tradition and the organizers and financers of the festival. All households from the twin villages offer prayers and perform rituals to the main deities of the Ramman. Following are the roles allocated to particular people, caste or professional groups from the villages: Performers of Ramman: Talented youth and elders are selected by village heads. Priests are from the Brahmin caste who perform temple rituals, prepare and serve prasada (food offerings) to the deity. Baaris are responsible for the organization, including fund collection, worship, etc. Dhaaris are 10-12 people assisting the baaris in organizing the event. Gram panchas are heads of the village who assign duties to the baaris and dhaaris. Panchas assess the performance of the baaris and elect them for the next year in a review meeting. They also select the residence of the Bhumiyal Devta till the next Ramman festival. Bhandaris belong to Kshatriya caste from the Saloor village, and play a specific hereditary role in the festival. Narsingh Devta, the main deity, is their Kul Devta (lineage deity). Bhandaris have the exclusive right to wear the sacred mask of Narsingh during the performance. The family, where Bhumiyal Devta resides for a year has to maintain a strict daily routine. A place in the house is demarcated and consecrated for the deity where the family head performs rituals. |
| Type of UNESCO List | Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List | 2009 |