Ramlila at PU: 77-yr-old tradition continues uninterrupted

Chandigarh, October 19
77 years ago, in 1935, Arjuna Amateur Dramatic Club began staging Ramlila inside the then campus of Panjab University in Lahore. Years passed, the country went through Partition and the university campus kept shifting to different places. But there was never a year when this stage was not lit up during the festivity.
“This Ramlila, in fact, reflects upon the ups and down which the university saw over the years,”[ said Deepak Kaushik, general secretary of the Hari Naam Sankirtan Prachar Mandal under whose aegis the Lahore-born Arjuna Amateur Dramatic Club has been organising this Ramlila on the Chandigarh campus of Panjab University since its inception here in 1956. Kaushik, who is engaged with this Ramlila since 1991, said that after Partition, the university shifted from Lahore to Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Shimla and Solan, before coming to Chandigarh. But the staging of Ramlila continued uninterrupted, he said.
Members of the mandal, who all are from the PU, say that people like Master Khem Raj Behal, Tara Chand Gandhi, and Babu Mohan Lal started the Arjuna Amateur Dramatic Club which was active in staging plays and cultural activities against the British rule. PU employee Rajan Sharma, who is a part of this Ramlila since the age of four, and currently plays Rama, says that the contribution of Prof Lekh Raj Sharma, former head of chemical engineering department, had a big contribution in keeping this Ramlila alive when it moved to Chandigarh, along with the campus, from Solan. “He remained the president of the club for thirty years and inspired several generations on the campus to remain attached to our roots,” he says.

Vaikunth Nath Bhandari, one of the oldest members of the club, said that after Lekh Raj, this Ramlila was on the verge of closure in the early 90’s. But the efforts of late Prof Biri Chand, ex-chairman of UBS, revived it and helped creating the team of young people who are taking this Ramlila forward.

Here, Lord Rama converses with Sita in Urdu

An interesting part of this Ramlila is that though it was uprooted from Lahore years ago, it still has the rustic ‘Lahori’ flavour. Here, the dialogues are still delivered in pure Urdu and generations after generations have ensured that the original language remains unchanged.

Sushil Puri, one of the members, says, “We never used any special or professional artistes to attract crowds. From young to old, everyone delivers their dialogues in Urdu.” 16-year-old Karan Sharma, performing the role of young Rama, says that he had some problem in learning the dialogue initially but, having participated here for last many years, is now used to it.

13-year-old Anurag, playing the role of young Shatrughan, says that he enjoys being a part of this festival. The members here believe that the tradition of this stage will hopefully continue in future too.