Tradition In Manipuri Ramkatha

Manipuri Ramkatha through Wari Leeba: A Dialogue between Text and Oral Renditions
Ahanthem Homen Singh
Research Scholar
Department of Modern Indian Languages and Literary Studies,
University of Delhi

Abstract: The paper seeks to highlight the dynamism of Indian Literary traditions which blurs the strict compartmentalization of written and oral traditions. Taking an instance from the Manipuri Ramayana in written text and its oral rendition through the narrative art of Wari Leeba, the paper tries to delineate the negotiation and interaction between the various forms of expressions in Indian literary scenario. From a detailed study of how the Manipuri Ramkatha tradition develops in Manipur to the way how Wari Leeba as a narrative art evolves

Apart from the Ramayana of Valmiki which is considered as the ur-text and other popular Rama stories in written forms such as Iramavataram or Kamba Ramayana of Kamban (Tamil), Krittivasi Ramayana of Krittivas (Bengali), Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, Madhav Kandali’s Ramayana (Assamese) , to name a few, we come upon scores of Ramkatha or ‘story of Rama’ in different parts of India and in various regional languages. It is generally observed that translation, adaptation, re-rendering, re-telling of the Ramayana are found in almost all the regional literatures of India. And it is here one can really witness the parochial aesthetics and cultural markers, not only in terms of language, lexicon, imageries etc. but the local legends, myths and folk narratives being infused into it so appropriately that the resultant product becomes a unique ‘Ramkatha’. These indeed are some of the unique characteristics of this great epic of India. Not only through text or scripto-centric format, but through oral and performance traditions also, the story of Rama has traversed both spatially and temporally in India and has become a tradition itself. The extent of this tradition is observed not only in performance, narration, sculpture, painting, songs and festivals. But also related to sacred geographies and places of pilgrimage and shared ethos of different communities. It is

Here, a single narrator recites episodes from these texts with gestures and well modulated voice to evoke suitable rasa (sentiments) among the audiences. The narrator narrates in colloquial Meiteilon (or Manipuri language) and uses relevant metaphors and imageries from the local language to narrate the stories. A little sprinkling of Sanskrit and Bengali slokas (metrical forms) and words during the course of narration is observed as of necessity (for the narrators basically learned the stories as taught to them by their predecessors from the Ramayana written either in Bengali or Sanskrit) and also to show their comfort level with these languages apart from attracting the audiences. This mingling and fusing of lexicons and metaphors and idioms also give us the impression of two cultures in negotiation and conventions of the Vaishnavite ethos is distinctively visible. Elangbam Nilakanta Singh, a renowned Manipuri scholar