Russian fascination w/ Ramayana

[Guest guest]

>"Ashok Chowgule"

>"Ashok Chowgule"

>

>Fw: Russia's fascination with 'Valmiki Ramayana' continues >Fri,

13 Apr 2001 15:13:57 +0530 > >Title: Russia's fascination with 'Valmiki

Ramayana' continues >Author: Arun Mohanty, Moscow >Publication: India Abroad

>April 8, 2001 > >Russia is perhaps the only European country where the

Valmiki >Ramayana, written by the Hindu sage Valmiki, has been >translated into

the local language several times in tens of >thousands of copies. > >So it is

hardly surprising that more than a thousand people >offered prayers and

tributes to the Hindu god Ram in the first >ever large-scale Ramnavami

celebrations, at which Russian >artistes and writers who took Ram's story to

the people were >felicitated. > >The Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center (JNCC) at

Moscow, as a >part of its Ramnavami celebrations, organized a function to >honor

those who are associated with translating and staging >the Ramayana as a play in

Russia. > >While eminent Indologist Alexander Baranikov first translated >the

Ramayana into Russian in 1948, Natalia Guseva, another >prominent scholar on

India, had written the script for a play >based on the Indian epic that was

staged in Moscow Children's >Theatre in the erstwhile Soviet Union for the

first time in >1957. > >The Ramayana, popularly perceived as a tale of triumph

of good >over evil, is used extensively for inculcating noble values in

>Russian children, and has been staged in scores of cities many >times over

during the past five decades. > >Speaking at the function organized by the

JNCC, Guseva >highlighted the role of the great Indian epic in bringing up

>generations of Russian children. She praised the contribution >of the then

Indian ambassador K.P.S. Menon and his wife in >making the first staging of the

Ramayana at Moscow a big >success. > >Gennady Pechnikov, a popular Russian actor

who played the role >of Ram at Moscow's Children Theatre for several decades and

>popularly known as the 'Russian Ram', recalled how Jawaharlal >Nehru during his

visit to the Soviet Union in 1961 set aside >his official appointment to witness

the Ramayana in the Moscow >theatre and was greatly impressed by the staging of

the epic >by Russian artistes. > >Pechnikov, talking about his numerous visits

to India with his >troupe to stage the epic in different Indian cities,

recalled >the warm reception Russian artistes received there. > >The Indian

Ambassador to Russia, Satinder Lamba, expressed his >gratitude to Russian

scholars and artists for their >contribution in popularizing the epic in

Russia. > >At another function at the House of Culture of the Moscow Oil >and

Gas Institute, a popular site for the celebration of many >Indian festivals,

about 1,000 people gathered for Ramnavami >celebrations. One of the attractions

was a drawing competition >on India's festivals and national days, in which more

than 100 >children in took part. > >Much to the jury's delight, participants

demonstrated a deep >knowledge of Indian festivals and national days in their

>paintings. Some paintings on characters of the Ramayana and >its different

episodes drew applause from both jury and the >crowd. > >The function, held

amid recitation of verses from the Ramayana >and a presentation of devotional

songs, was one of several >organized by Moscow's Indian expatriate community. >

> > > > > > > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com