New Delhi, October 20 (IANS): A 10-member team of artists from Fiji is in New Delhi to perform Ramlila as part of the 6th International Ramayan Conference organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), currently underway in the national capital.
The group of artists of Indian origin will also perform at the three-day Deepotsav (festival of lights) in Ayodhya, which begins on Friday.
“Over the last 10 years or so, interest in Ram Leela has waned and in many areas of Fiji it has stopped completely. It was something that was brought down by our ancestors. It is a cultural heritage and it is important that we pass it on to the next generation our new and that is what we have been trying to do,” Akhilesh Prasad, President of Lami’s Shree Satsang Ramayan Mandali, told fbcnews.com.
Indians make up about 38 percent of Fiji’s population and as of 2021, approximately 3.20 lakh Indians live in the South Pacific nation, according to the Union Ministry of External Affairs.
They have come mainly from ‘Girmitiyas’, or indentured labourers, brought to the islands by the British colonial rulers between 1879 and 1916 to work on the sugar plantations in Fiji.
The vast majority of Indo-Fijians trace their origins to Bihar and South India.
A significant number of Fijians celebrate Ramlila and Diwali with traditional rituals, and they are part of the main events held on the islands.
Like their Indian counterparts, Fijians celebrate Diwali with elaborate lighting and candle decorations.
Unesco designated Ramlila, the theatrical act of Lord Ram’s life, as an intangible cultural heritage in 2008.
The festival is celebrated by the Indian community in Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Canada and the UK.
