IMAGINARII PERFORMATE. RAMLILA DIN RAMNAGAR ŞI COSMOSUL MAYA-LILA
Performed Imaginaries. The Ramlila of Ramnagar and the Maya-Lila Cosmos

Summary/Abstract: In the article „Performed Imaginaries. The Ramlila of Ramnagar and the Maya-Lila Cosmos”, Richard Schechner describes a performed imaginary – Ramlila, a 31-day cycle play staged under the tutelage of the Maharajah of Banaras during September and October in the Luminous City of Kashi, not in the city itself but across the Ganga, a few miles upriver, in Ramnagar. This is the enactment of an imaginary space, an entire city materialized out of the imagination, an Indian devotional, large-scale, didactic performance dedicated to Ram and designed for an audience of all castes and classes. Ramlilas everywhere, but especially Ramnagar’s, are celebratory performances tracing Ram’s footsteps from before his birth in Ayodhya, through his childhood, courtship and marriage to Sita, daughter of King Janak, exile, wanderings in the forest, kidnapping of Sita by Ravan, the 10-headed demon king of Lanka, war against Ravan, victory, return to Ayodhya, coronation and teachings during the mythical golden age of his rule, Ramraj. Ramnagar Ramlila is a carefully crafted enactment of a narrative that transmits information and values of a particular north Indian Hindu view of the world, social practice, and values. The article is a profound research of the powerful convergence of theatre and religion. In Kashi, theatre and religion are mutually supportive and not in opposition to each other as in the Protestant West. Ramlila is total theatre, theatre of inclusion and immersion.

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