Ramman

Ramman is a form of traditional ritual theatre celebrated every year in the courtyard of the temple of Bhumiyal Devta situated in Saloor Dungra Village in Painkhanda valley of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India.

Historical accounts of the preexisting tradition since 1911 are available, but the tradition has existed prior to this. The celebration of Ramman coincides with another festival known as Baisakhi a harvest festival and also the beginning of the Hindu Solar New Year. Every year on this day the village priest traditionally announces the date for the Ramman festival which invariably falls on the ninth or the eleventh day after Baisakhi. The festival lasts for ten days and throughout this period, the local epic of Rama is sung and masked dances depicting different aspects of life take place in the courtyard of the Bhumiyal Devta's temple. Beginning with the dance of the Sun-God, performance moves on to other deities and characters. The performers make use of elaborate costumes and masks. Another important aspect of the performance is the singing of Jagar, a musical rendition of local legends. The performance combines the celestial, social and historical aspects in a comic and humorous presentation, though never losing sight of the spiritual.

Primarily, the aesthetic and artistic aspects of Ramman have received less attention and acknowledgement than the spiritual one. However, as an art form, Ramman combines religious, ritual, customary, social and historical dimensions with oral, literary, visual, kinetic and traditional craft forms. These have co-existed in a lively relationship of exchange and interaction for more than hundred years.

The advance in modern technology, penetration of the electronic media, the onslaught of globalization, historical amnesia and lack of financial or artistic compensation have had an adverse impact on the ritual and traditional performances of the Ramman.