Chandigarh’s oldest Ramlilas fading into oblivion for lack of funds, audience

While most people assume staging Ramlila is a matter of one’s faith in God and the victory of good over evil, not many of us realise the effort and expenditure that goes into producing the 10-day affair.

While most people assume staging Ramlila is a matter of one’s faith in God and the victory of good over evil, not many of us realise the effort and expenditure that goes into producing the 10-day affair.

Artistes during a Ramlila in Sector 28, Chandigarh. (HT Photo)

The Garhwal Ramlila and Sanskritik Mandal, Sector 22, running in its 60th year and known to be among the oldest Ramlilas in the city, is facing difficulty in due to inflation and shortage of funds. The Ramlila, which has been allotted registration number 1, has been functional since 1956 and the characters have seen that expenditure has almost doubled over the last two years.

Bhagwati Prasad Gaur, 61, chairman of the Ramlila Committee, Sector 22, said “There has been a major drop in the donations we receive every year. The number of people watching Ramlila has also fallen.” Not only the lack of interest among people but also inflation has forced the organisers along with other office bearers to cull out money from their own incomes to stage Ramlila.

Ramlila expenditure is on tents, sound, lighting, musicians, make up and costume of the characters. “The cost of tenting including the chairs and mats comes to 1-1.5 lakh, 50,000 each for sound and lighting, 30-40,000 for musicians and 5-10,000 for makeup,” said Gaur. The team tries to make up with old costumes to do some cost saving. As per instructions from the Chandigarh Police, the committees are even expected to put up CCTV cameras. “We spent Rs 32,000 on purchasing four CCTV cameras for the venue this year which further added to the expenditure,” added Deepak Gaur, who is playing Lord Rama.

The team comprising mostly government employees ends up pooling in at least Rs 5,000 depending on their income. “A lot of times the labour class that comes to watch us would give donations even if it was Rs 20– Rs 50 out of goodwill but inflation has put a halt to that this year,” added Bhagwati Gaur.

The committee, like other Ramlila committees in the city, has submitted multiple proposals to the UT administration asking for a fund for staging Ramlila every year, a plea yet to be heard. Mukesh Sharma, director and artiste of Ramlila in Garhwal Ramlila Ramjli Board, Sector 28, said, “Inflation is the main problem. Also, with changing times, we have had to bring in more innovation to our theatrics which has led to a more elaborate setup, raising the expenditure. We have to rely on our own resources when donations stop coming.”