Raigarh (Chhattisgarh): The three-day National Ramayana Festival, that opened on Thursday at Ram Leela Maidan in Raigarh, provided a spectacle of religious and cultural bonds among India, Indonesia and Cambodia. Ramayana troupes from two countries —Indonesia and Cambodia, where Ramayana is customarily prevalent, besides the 12 states including Chhattisgarh; are performing at the festival.
On the first day, the 25-minute emotional performance by a 12-member international Ramayana team from Cambodia stood out and mesmerised the audience. The Cambodian artists travelled 4,500 kilometres to reach Chhattisgarh to participate in the festival, which Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel inaugurated. Wearing colourful costumes, the Cambodian Ramayana team gave a musical presentation of the 'Ahiravana' episode. Ravana's brother Ahiravana takes Lord Rama to Patal Lok by making him unconscious. Lord Hanuman goes to Patal Lok to bring Lord Ram safely. Lord Hanuman is confronted by his son Makardhwaj. There is a fight between the two, but no one is victorious or defeated. In the end, Hanuman takes Lord Ram back with him.
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The Cambodian artists presented the event moment of this episode in such a passionate way, that the audience was in tears after seeing their performance. India and Cambodia share a strong cultural bond. The Cambodian version of the epic Ramayana is known as 'Reamker' and it inspires several people from the South East Asian nation.
The festival will conclude on Saturday. On the second day, the festival will begin with a group recitation of 'Hanuman Chalisa' from 2 PM. A competition based on the 'Aranya Kand' will be organized among the inter-state Ramayana troupes. Teams from Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Chhattisgarh will participate. Baba Hansraj Raghuvanshi and Lakhbir Singh Lakkha will perform 'Bhajan Sandhya' in the evening.
On the first day, Bhajan singer Dilip Shadangi rendered Hanuman Chalisa. There was a march past from teams of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Indonesia and Cambodia. All the artists were presented with a copy of Ramcharit Manas. Artists from Karnataka staged the episode of 'Sitaharan' in the Kannada language.
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