LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given a global platform to the artists of foreign countries to perform Ramlila in ‘Ramnagari Ayodhya’.
Under the auspices of ‘Disha: India-Russia Friendship Society of Moscow’, the Padma Shri Gennady Mikhailovich Pechnikov Memorial Ramlila will be held on the Deepotsav stage in Ayodhya and a group of 12 artists will perform. Director and producer Rameshwar Singh stated that Ramlila has been performed in Russia on a very significant scale since 1960, said a press release.
According to the Russian artists, Ram’s persona is the only source of inspiration for their ongoing growth. They have upheld Ram’s principles, added the statement.
In the Russian Ramlila, Ildar Khusnullin will play Maryada Purushottam Shriram. Sita will be portrayed by Milana Bychonek, Kaushalya by Nadezda Singh, Sumitra by Rati Kosinova, Kaikeyi by Gulnara Isakova, Lakshmana by Alexei Fleyjanikav and Ravana by Vaychislav Chernyash. Danish Shevtsov will play Dashrath, Artem Zubkov will play Sugreev with Kushnerova portraying Lord Hanuman.
Aleksandra Koneva, the co-director, revealed that the performers will portray the Ram-Ravana war, the reunion of Ram and Sita, and the return to Ayodhya in addition to Sita’s Swayamvar, Kaikeyi’s asking for her 3 ‘vardaans’, Rama-Lakshman and Sita’s exile, Sita’s abduction, Sita in Lanka, Lord Hanuman going to Lanka, among others in Russian Ramlila.
Rameshwar Singh, president of the Indo-Russian Friendship Association, said that the Yogi government provided him with a platform in India. In 2018, from November 4 to 6, he gave his debut performance at Ayodhya Deepotsav. He was later given the opportunity to act in the 2019 Kumbh in Prayagraj.
Since 2017, Ramlila has been performed by foreign performers each year during Deepotsav. Artists from 8 nations will once again perform Ramlila at Ramnagari Ayodhya. Artists from Russia, Trinidad & Tobago, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and Malaysia are among them.
The Ramlila of foreign artists was first presented to the people of Ayodhya and the nation during the first edition of Deepotsav in 2017. (ANI)