Post by radha on Mar 25, 2018 9:27:29 GMT 5.5
OM SRI GURUPYO NMAHA RESPECTFUL PRANAMS TO SRI KANCHI MAHA PERIVA
He’s definitely not exclusively ‘Indian,’ says NARAYANI GANESH on the occasion of Rama Navami. She finds Rama, the Universal Hero, vibrantly alive in the consciousness of people across the subcontinent, east and south-east Asia and beyond Namaste,” said Rama, with a decidedly Russian accent. I had scrambled up on the stage constructed in front of the beautiful Chandela temples at Khajuraho, where Gennady Pechnikov had just given a brilliant performance as the exiled Prince Rama.
His anguished search for his beloved Sita, calling out to her, beseeching, searching, is still tugging at my heart strings. The Russian actor has played Rama for nearly four decades and has been conferred the title, ‘Peoples’ Artist of Russia’. He has been directing and producing ballets for Children’sTheatre, Moscow. Pechnikov is so identified with the Ramayana’s hero, that he is known as ‘Lord Rama of Russia’. What endeared him to this particular character, that too, from an Indian epic? “He is the ideal man,” declares Pechnikov, “a model human being.
” ‘Hello, I’m Rama’At the Khajuraho International Ramayana Festival at the turn of the millennium, there were Ramas galore every which way I looked — each waiting in the wings for their turn on stage even as pundits, politicians and rabble-rousers fought over where exactly Rama’s temple ought to be built in Ayodhya. Each Rama was readying to play his part by turn in the version popular in their respective countries — Russian, Cambodian, Indonesian, Chinese, Burmese, Thai — all reliving the legend of Rama, Prince of Ayodhya.
Not one of them knew where exactly Ayodhya is situated, nor did it matter. And best of all, no one had a patent on Rama. The actors were happy to just ‘become’ Rama as model son, husband, warrior and king. A guileless Maryada Purusha who was strong in family values. He was such an expert in warfare that he could vanquish demons and enemies almost effortlessly. But performers also know that they portray him so well because, despite being an avatar, he was wholly human in thought, word and deed.
Even as the Ramayana Festival was happening in Khajuraho, Robert North, artistic director of the Scottish Ballet Company was touring the UK with his production, Prince Rama and the Demons. The ballet turned out to be hugely popular, especially among children, who simply loved the clearly defined main characters and antics of the monkey-god, Hanuman. Rama has been described as a noble prince, with a dedicated brother Lakshmana and devoted wife Sita. Ravana is described as the demon-king who abducted Sita, and Hanuman is the mischievous but loyal monkey-king.
Rama temples can be found almost everywhere, from USA to Cambodia and Argentina to Bali. In the 11th century, temples dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva were being built in Khajuraho by Chandela kings. During the same period, the magnificent Angkor Vat temple for Vishnu was being constructed in Cambodia by Kambuja ruler, Surya Varman II. Scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata adorn the structure. More than a place of religious worship, it was a centre for astronomical studies; a meeting ground for researchers and philosophers.
It later became the king’s tomb. Raghupati’s Global SweepAyutthaya, in Thailand, was the capital of the Rama dynasty. It was founded by King Ramathibodi I. The Ayutthaya kings were not only Buddhist, they were also devaraja, god-kings whose sacred power was associated with Hindu gods Indra and Vishnu. Even today, the Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej has the title, King Rama IX. In Myanmar, the oral tradition of the Ramayana is traced back to the reign of King Anawrahta, founder of the first Myanmar empire, 9th century.
The story of Rama is depicted on the panels of a pagoda in Bagan, Myanmar. A Bagan dynasty king even claimed that in his previous birth, he was a close relative of Rama of Ayodhya. The Ramayana is the most popular inspiration for dance in Indonesia, especially in Java and Bali. The dances are heavily laced with local folklore. The unique feature of this epic in all these countries is that the story is part of local folklore and tradition, part of the cultural and historical milieu. For instance, the troupe from Singapore enacted the epic through Chinese opera.
All dancers I spoke with echoed a similar sentiment: The concept of Rama is universal; he belongs to all humankind; he lives in our hearts. The Universal HeroCan any one country or group assume ownership of Rama? For, Rama the eternal, universal hero lives in the hearts of millions regardless of race, belief or geography. The point is that Rama is brave but also vulnerable. So vulnerable is he that he is often used as a pawn in Hindu nationalist politics. Which makes one wonder, that while the epic has enriched and embellished the lives of people in not only southeast Asia and Russia but also in countries of the western hemisphere, why has Rama invoked parochialism in our polity? Surely Rama does not come across as a narrow, parochial person.
On the contrary, he is the very personification of universality. Then why are we so reluctant to share Rama with everyone? “At the premiere of Ramayana in New Delhi in the 1960s,” recalls the 82-year-old Pechnikov, “after the performance, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru came up to me, shook my hand and said: ‘You are our Rama. ’”It’s a privilege indeed to be able to embrace ‘Lord Rama of Russia,’ — and Rama of China, Bali, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar… ad infinitum.
It is instructive to recount the story of Prahlada. When asked by his angry father to pinpoint the place where he could find Sri Narayana, the little child Prahlada throws open his arms wide to indicate the universe, replying that He was Omnipresent; so there was no spot where one could not find Him. King Of HeartsRama is everywhere — most of all, in our hearts. So why confine him to time and space, geography and religion? Or to a particular spot in Ayodhya? Or even to a specific name and gender? narayani.
ganesh@timesgroup. com .
SRI KANCHI MAHA PERIVA THIRUVADIGAL CHARANAM
He’s definitely not exclusively ‘Indian,’ says NARAYANI GANESH on the occasion of Rama Navami. She finds Rama, the Universal Hero, vibrantly alive in the consciousness of people across the subcontinent, east and south-east Asia and beyond Namaste,” said Rama, with a decidedly Russian accent. I had scrambled up on the stage constructed in front of the beautiful Chandela temples at Khajuraho, where Gennady Pechnikov had just given a brilliant performance as the exiled Prince Rama.
His anguished search for his beloved Sita, calling out to her, beseeching, searching, is still tugging at my heart strings. The Russian actor has played Rama for nearly four decades and has been conferred the title, ‘Peoples’ Artist of Russia’. He has been directing and producing ballets for Children’sTheatre, Moscow. Pechnikov is so identified with the Ramayana’s hero, that he is known as ‘Lord Rama of Russia’. What endeared him to this particular character, that too, from an Indian epic? “He is the ideal man,” declares Pechnikov, “a model human being.
” ‘Hello, I’m Rama’At the Khajuraho International Ramayana Festival at the turn of the millennium, there were Ramas galore every which way I looked — each waiting in the wings for their turn on stage even as pundits, politicians and rabble-rousers fought over where exactly Rama’s temple ought to be built in Ayodhya. Each Rama was readying to play his part by turn in the version popular in their respective countries — Russian, Cambodian, Indonesian, Chinese, Burmese, Thai — all reliving the legend of Rama, Prince of Ayodhya.
Not one of them knew where exactly Ayodhya is situated, nor did it matter. And best of all, no one had a patent on Rama. The actors were happy to just ‘become’ Rama as model son, husband, warrior and king. A guileless Maryada Purusha who was strong in family values. He was such an expert in warfare that he could vanquish demons and enemies almost effortlessly. But performers also know that they portray him so well because, despite being an avatar, he was wholly human in thought, word and deed.
Even as the Ramayana Festival was happening in Khajuraho, Robert North, artistic director of the Scottish Ballet Company was touring the UK with his production, Prince Rama and the Demons. The ballet turned out to be hugely popular, especially among children, who simply loved the clearly defined main characters and antics of the monkey-god, Hanuman. Rama has been described as a noble prince, with a dedicated brother Lakshmana and devoted wife Sita. Ravana is described as the demon-king who abducted Sita, and Hanuman is the mischievous but loyal monkey-king.
Rama temples can be found almost everywhere, from USA to Cambodia and Argentina to Bali. In the 11th century, temples dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva were being built in Khajuraho by Chandela kings. During the same period, the magnificent Angkor Vat temple for Vishnu was being constructed in Cambodia by Kambuja ruler, Surya Varman II. Scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata adorn the structure. More than a place of religious worship, it was a centre for astronomical studies; a meeting ground for researchers and philosophers.
It later became the king’s tomb. Raghupati’s Global SweepAyutthaya, in Thailand, was the capital of the Rama dynasty. It was founded by King Ramathibodi I. The Ayutthaya kings were not only Buddhist, they were also devaraja, god-kings whose sacred power was associated with Hindu gods Indra and Vishnu. Even today, the Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej has the title, King Rama IX. In Myanmar, the oral tradition of the Ramayana is traced back to the reign of King Anawrahta, founder of the first Myanmar empire, 9th century.
The story of Rama is depicted on the panels of a pagoda in Bagan, Myanmar. A Bagan dynasty king even claimed that in his previous birth, he was a close relative of Rama of Ayodhya. The Ramayana is the most popular inspiration for dance in Indonesia, especially in Java and Bali. The dances are heavily laced with local folklore. The unique feature of this epic in all these countries is that the story is part of local folklore and tradition, part of the cultural and historical milieu. For instance, the troupe from Singapore enacted the epic through Chinese opera.
All dancers I spoke with echoed a similar sentiment: The concept of Rama is universal; he belongs to all humankind; he lives in our hearts. The Universal HeroCan any one country or group assume ownership of Rama? For, Rama the eternal, universal hero lives in the hearts of millions regardless of race, belief or geography. The point is that Rama is brave but also vulnerable. So vulnerable is he that he is often used as a pawn in Hindu nationalist politics. Which makes one wonder, that while the epic has enriched and embellished the lives of people in not only southeast Asia and Russia but also in countries of the western hemisphere, why has Rama invoked parochialism in our polity? Surely Rama does not come across as a narrow, parochial person.
On the contrary, he is the very personification of universality. Then why are we so reluctant to share Rama with everyone? “At the premiere of Ramayana in New Delhi in the 1960s,” recalls the 82-year-old Pechnikov, “after the performance, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru came up to me, shook my hand and said: ‘You are our Rama. ’”It’s a privilege indeed to be able to embrace ‘Lord Rama of Russia,’ — and Rama of China, Bali, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar… ad infinitum.
It is instructive to recount the story of Prahlada. When asked by his angry father to pinpoint the place where he could find Sri Narayana, the little child Prahlada throws open his arms wide to indicate the universe, replying that He was Omnipresent; so there was no spot where one could not find Him. King Of HeartsRama is everywhere — most of all, in our hearts. So why confine him to time and space, geography and religion? Or to a particular spot in Ayodhya? Or even to a specific name and gender? narayani.
ganesh@timesgroup. com .
SRI KANCHI MAHA PERIVA THIRUVADIGAL CHARANAM