Ramlila enters Unesco's heritage list

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Ramlila enters Unesco's heritage list

Akshaya Mukul

[ Monday, November 28, 2005 12:52:04 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

 

NEW DELHI: What is common between Ramlila, Kabuki and Samba? All

three are on Unesco's list of 43 masterpieces of the oral and

intangible heritage announced in Paris on Friday.

 

For India, it is a rare honour since Ramlila is the third successive

art form after Kudiyattam and Vedic Chants to have found a place on

Unesco's list.

 

Incidentally, all the three successful entries were piloted by Sudha

Gopalakrishnan, head of the National Manuscript Mission.

 

She said: "It is a recognition of the diverse forms of Ramlila,

uniqueness of this theatrical event in which community negotiates

with the most popular religious lore."

The recognition would mean Unesco would fund documentation of vital

aspects of various strands of Ramlila in Chitrakoot, Ayodhya, Kullu,

Mysore and Dandi and help in popularising its cultural value.

 

Last year, when the initial Indian proposal was accepted, culture

ministry had constituted a high-powered advisory body consisting of

officials, experts like Anuradha Kapur, author of a seminal work on

Ramlila of Ramnagar, and practitioners of various forms of Ramlilas

to finetune the entry.

 

What adds to the achievement is that Ramlila has been added to the

Unesco list despite the art form not facing the risk of

disappearance as is the case with many others.

 

India had argued that Ramlila is a rare example of an event which

transforms and takes an entire village, irrespective of class and

caste, under its spell for its duration.

 

It fulfils some urgent cultural needs and should, therefore, be

safeguarded.

 

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