Ramayana most popular art in Islamic Bangladesh

In the green hinterland of Islamic Bangladesh, the Ramayana is the most popular performing art form, says a leading playwright of the country. The Indian epic exists in harmony with Sufism and a variety of indigenous folk arts. “At least eight versions of the Ramayana, mostly folklore-based performances, are enacted in the countryside of Bangladesh. It is one of the most popular epics in the country, surpassing even the Mahabharata in its ratings,” Saymon Zakaria told IANS.

In Agra to attend the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Festival of Literature, Zakaria is an Islamic scholar who has written extensively about the Ramayana and the performances associated with it. “Ramayana in villages of Bangladesh is interpreted as a social comment exploring the model relationship between the husband, wife and the members of the family. References to Ramayana can often be found in local folklores that describe filial conduct codes and in domestic conservations,” Zakaria said.

Sita’s “Agni Pariksha” (test by fire), for example, was usually interpreted as the tribulations of the average Bangladeshi woman, who was subjected to tests both at her father’s home, in-laws’ house and in the conservative Islamic social mosaics of the villages that still frowned upon gender equality and freedom, explained the playwright.

The theatrical performance of “Ram Mangal”, the rural folk art form of Kishorganj, flourishes throughout the “bhakti” belt of Mymensingh district. “Ram Mangal is an invocation of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, performed in the Bhakti (prayer songs) tradition,” Zakaria said. “Kushan Gaan”, the story of king Rama’s life, as narrated by his sons Luv and Kush, is enacted in villages of Korigram. “The script, full of music and dance, is a blend of the two versions of the epic written by seers Valmiki and Krittivas,” Zakaria explained.

Bangladesh also pays its tribute to Sita, the princess of Mithila and the queen of Ayodhya, through the “Chandravati Ramayan”, a 16th century version of the epic scripted by Bengal’s first known poetess, Chandravati. “Ram takes a back seat in this version of Ramayana and Sita is the leading light. Sita, in Chandravati Ramayan, is Ravana’s daughter who is cast off in childhood after an astrologer predicts that she will destroy her father,” Zakaria said.

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