Paper short abstract:

A Social Cultural Practice called 'Ramlila'

Paper long abstract:

A distinctive feature of religious ethos of India is that religion here influences all aspects of society. Ramlila is critical to understand the relationship between little and great tradition. Dusshera is observed to celebrate Ram's return to his homeland Ayodhya, after his victory over the demon Ravana. . The performance is based on Tulsidas's late 16th century epic poem Ram Charita Manas, a hindi version of Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana. Ramlila is a bridge between literary and oral traditions. Many south Asian countries have their own version of Ramkatha, which is related to Valmiki and Kamba as well as tribal Ramayana and is performed as Shadow plays,Puppet plays,Dance,drama etc. Ramlila is our 'cultural knowledge' and the specialised language styles that communicate victory of good over evil. UNESCO proclaimed that the tradition of Ramlila is Masterpiece of the oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005.It has been identified by UNESCO as an essential component and repository of cultural diversity and creative expression. .By the study of Ramlila cultural anthropologists have been able to elucidated many obscure points of racial migration and fusions.

This paper had studied Ramlila anthropologically and found that available oral tradition of Ramlila serves many social functions. It establishes social relationship between different communities and religious groups and facilitates their amalgamation in the larger society. It provides a platform for peaceful co-existence and harmonious social formation.