Ramlila

"Indians do not get tired to listen to the story of Ram in ashrams or to watch it in village plays. When in the 1980s the Ramayana was shown on TV every Sunday morning over a couple of years, the streets were as empty as otherwise only during curfew or a world cup cricket match between India and Pakistan. Even the flights on Sunday morning had fewer passengers as usual."

"Before the play, a pooja (worship) is performed for the actors and thereafter they are considered true embodiments of their roles. Many spectators touched respectfully the feet of the 12-year old boy who played Ram, when there was an occasion during breaks. The actors were right in the midst of the crowd in some of the scenes. Nearby, a group of men dressed in white cotton cloth with yellow turbans sat in a circle on the ground and chanted the whole Tulsidas Ramayana of 24,000 shlokas... There was a festive atmosphere with plenty of food carts and stalls selling trinkets. When Ram went into exile, several thousand spectators walked with him around two kilometres to the place, where the next episode would unfold. An amazing experience in itself... I have particularly fond memories of the journeys back across the Ganges in the middle of the night after the play. Mainly men crossed over to the town on the other side on countless, crowded boats in the stillness of the night—once it was even four in the morning. They excitedly narrated to each other how admirably Ram had conducted himself today and how exemplarily Sita had reacted –as if it just happened and they had the good fortune of being present. When the talking stopped, they started singing “Siya Ram, jay Siya Ram”—everyone in his own tune and rhythm. Towards the end of the boat ride, while gliding past a Shiva temple on the ghats in Varanasi, they interrupted “Siya Ram” and full throatily shouted a salutation to Shiva: “Hara Hara Mahadev!”"