The space of (and in) performance to engender possibility, multiplicity and adaptation of one of Hinduism's defining epic is the recurring emphasis of Richman and Bharucha's book. The opening line of the first introduction aptly sets the tone for the rest of the volume: ‘Where does the Ramayana narrative begin and end?’ (p. 4).
Addressing that question definitively is impossible but this enlightening volume makes a strong attempt by examining the ways past and present performances of the Ramayana story have in turn contributed to and re-written this kāvya (elaborate narrative poem). To reflect the diverse traditions that engage with the Ramayana, the editors have chosen to discard the verbs ‘act’ or ‘perform’ in favour of ‘enact’ (as is reflected in the book's subtitle). This choice is deliberate, as Bharucha explains in his introductory chapter, for performance traditions in India do not have an encompassing term called ‘performance’. Specific vocabularies that describe performing in these traditions are inflected by regional and local concerns vis-à-vis social prestige, class and even caste. Any discussion of performances of the Ramayana must be rooted in contextual specificity.
Like the many versions of the Ramayana which exist, the volume adopts several concerns and even modes of writing; it is composed of critical essays, annotated scripts, practitioner interviews and translated texts, organized into six parts, each seeking to ‘ask new questions about Ramayana-based enactments’ (p. 7). The first part examines how texts by Kamban, Sankaradeva and Valmiki, authors of the Ramayana, have influenced and fashioned practitioners, scholars and playwrights. The second engages with caste politics, with essays, playscripts and a poem revealing how contemporary artists have challenged social hierarchies embedded in the epic. Part III focuses on representations of Ravana, the antagonist of the Ramayana, as reinterpreted and re-examined in avant-garde performances that seek to complicate the ‘villain/antagonist’ narrative. Chapters in Part IV deal with gender politics and consider how women gained agency through new enactments in Kattaikkuttu, a rural theatre form practised in Tamil Nadu, and Nangyarkuttu, a Sanskrit dance-theatre specific to Kerala. Part V is perhaps the most compelling section. Interviews with Kutiyattam practitioners (such as Margi Madhu Chakyar and Dr Indu G.), scholars, and the sattrādhikār (head abbot) of the Natun Kamalbari Sattra evidence how enactments in various Indian performance traditions have given rise to new interpretations within the Ramayana universe. The final part considers issues ‘Beyond Enactment’: Urmimala Sarkar Munsi examines issues of embodiment and gender when she performs and ‘becomes’ Rama; Bhargav Rani underscores the importance of ‘waiting’ in Ramnagar Ramlila, a ritual performance of the story of Ram in northern India.
The book's most significant contribution to studies of the Ramayana would be its context-specific analyses of the case studies, the range of performance traditions engaged, and the multiplicity of voices. This breadth and diversity – of texts, examples and issues – are counterpointed by the editors’ and contributors’ meticulous attention to environments and conditions. This concern with exactitude extends to the editors’ insistence on the use of terms (and their obligatory diacritics) specific to Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi; the politics of this act of writing is salient. Additionally, targeted at a non-specialist readership (with the editors including a useful glossary of Indian terms), the volume concisely introduces the Ramayana's significant themes while engaging critically with the complex social and political issues that arise with performing the epic today.
Performing the Ramayana Tradition concludes with Bharucha's insights on the future of Ramayana enactments. He notes how such endeavours ‘cannot be separated from the exigencies of political culture in India today, and more specifically, the increasingly assertive normalization of codes, laws, and rules of behaviour associated with the political ideology of Hindutva’ (p. 327). Bharucha's solution to this cultural hegemony lies in performing the plurality that is ontological to the Ramayana, for pluralism can underscore the confrontations necessary to examining the social and economic inequalities that exist. Though specific to India, this counsel is most applicable in an increasingly polarized world. Therein also lies the book's noteworthiness: it performs its message of pluralism, in its mode, form and concerns. Its lack of ‘definitive synthesis’ (p. 321) in engaging with the Ramayana performance tradition is also what ensures a heterogeneous readership.
