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Ramlila

Cultural heritage of IndiaCulture of Uttar PradeshCulture of UttarakhandEngvarB from October 2019Hindi words and phrases
Hindu traditionsMasterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of HumanityMusical theatreReligious vernacular dramaSite-specific theatreTheatre in IndiaWorks based on the Ramayana
Ramnnagar Varanasi Ramlila
Ramnnagar Varanasi Ramlila

Ramlila (Sanskrit: रामलीला, romanized: Rāmalīlā; literally 'Rama's lila or play') is any dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana or secondary literature based on it such as the Ramcharitmanas. It particularly refers to the thousands of the Hindu god Rama-related dramatic plays and dance events, that are staged during the annual autumn festival of Navaratri in India. After the enactment of the legendary war between good and evil, the Ramlila celebrations climax in the Vijayadashami (Dussehra) night festivities where the giant grotesque effigies of evil such as of the rakshasa (demon) Ravana are burnt, typically with fireworks. Rama is the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu and the central figure of the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic that integrates performance arts with stories driven by ethical values. The epic text is dated to the 1st millennium BCE and Ramlila is an adaptation of those stories. Most Ramlilas in North India are based on the 16th-century secondary work on Ramayana, Ramcharitmanas a verse form composition in the regional vernacular language (Awadhi a dialect of Hindi), by Tulsidas. These verses are used as dialogues in traditional adaptations. Open-air productions are staged by local Ramlila committees (Samitis), and funded entirely by the villagers or local neighbourhoods in urban areas. The core team of performance artists train for the dance-drama, but the actual performance attracts impromptu participants from the audience and villagers. This art form is a part of the Hindu culture, found for many gods and goddesses, but those of Rama, Durga (as Durga Puja) and Krishna (as Rasalila) are the most popular and annual events in the Indian subcontinent.The Ramlila festivities were declared by UNESCO as one of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" in 2008. Ramlila is particularly notable in historically important Hindu cities of Ayodhya, Varanasi, Vrindavan, Almora, Satna and Madhubani – cities in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. The epic and its dramatic play migrated into Southeast Asia in the 1st millennium CE, and Ramayana based Ramlila is a part of performance art culture of Indonesia particularly the Hindu society of Bali, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand. In the 19th and 20th centuries, with the movement of the Indian diaspora into European colonies as indentured servants, the cultural celebration of Ramlila is now found in many parts of the world such as Mauritius, Africa, Fiji, Guyana, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is also found in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ramlila (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Ramlila
Jawaharlal Nehru Marg,

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N 28.641892 ° E 77.230698 °
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Ramlila Grounds

Jawaharlal Nehru Marg
110006
Delhi, India
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Ramnnagar Varanasi Ramlila
Ramnnagar Varanasi Ramlila
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Lutyens' Delhi
Lutyens' Delhi

Lutyens' Delhi is an area in Delhi, India, named after the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), who was responsible for much of the architectural design and building during the period of the British Raj, when India was part of the British Empire in the 1920s and 1930s and 1940s. This also includes the Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ). Sir Edwin Lutyens, the architect of Delhi, designed 4 bungalows in the Rashtrapati Bhavan Estate, (Viceroy House Estate); now, these bungalows lie on the Mother Teresa Crescent (then Willingdon Crescent). Lutyens, apart from designing the Viceroy's House, designed large government building and was involved with town planning.Sir Herbert Baker, who also designed with the Secretariat Buildings (North and South Block), designed bungalows on the then King George's Avenue (south of the Secretariats) for high-ranking officials. Other members of the team of architects were Robert Tor Russell, who built Connaught Place, the Eastern and Western Courts on Janpath, Teen Murti House (formerly called Flagstaff House), Safdarjung Airport (formerly Willingdon Airfield), Irwin Amphitheatre (renamed Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium) and several government houses, William Henry Nicholls, CG Blomfield, FB Blomfield, Walter Sykes George, Arthur Gordon Shoosmith and Henry Medd.It is on the 2002 World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites made by World Monuments Fund, a heritage organization based in New York.