It was in December that CM Yogi Adityanath called Meshram and expressed his desire to create a ‘festive atmosphere’ in the state before the consecration ceremony so that the people feel connected to the event.
The modestly staffed department, with only about five officers under Meshram, has in recent years been on a mission to showcase the talent of local artistes and revive dying art forms.
In the Pran Pratishtha ceremony and temple inauguration, the government saw a huge stage for such artistes and an opportunity to augment their livelihood. Thus was born the idea of ‘Ramotsav,’ 70-days of cultural and spiritual festivals around themes of Ram and his life, which in Meshram’s words is the largest project handled by the department.
The festival started on January 14 and will go on till March 24.
₹100 crore was set aside for Ramotsav and artistes from across the state have been brought to Ayodhya and provided with 25 big and small stages for song and dance and Ram Leelas. Meshram said he also wrote letters to other states to send contingents to perform Kuchipudi, Kalbeliya, Kathakali, etc. “No corner of the city has been left empty by them. You will find them start from 7 am in the morning, playing shehnais and bansuris, and performing Ram Leelas,” Meshram said. The department has also organised a ‘Ram Charan Paduka Yatra’ from Chitrakoot to Ayodhya from January 15 to 19, and various other cultural activities. Through the Lalit Kala Academy, operating under the culture department, 40 artistes from across the state are also creating the wall paintings on prominent buildings. “We have built a state of the art tent-city for the artistes called Kalagram which can house 500 artistes at the moment. There is an oil heater inside each tent, an electric blanket, tables and chairs to keep them warm and comfortable. Some artistes came from southern India without woollen clothing. Therefore, we also arranged for a shop inside the tent city to sell reasonable woollen clothing,” says Meshram. They will also receive a certificate and a memento – a metal idol of Lord Rama crafted by the metalworkers working inside the temple itself, he said.
Last year, when a government order passed by the department to hold cultural programs during Navratri and hold ‘Akhand Ramayanas’ on Ramnavami in major temples had come under the opposition’s attack for allegedly “favouring” the majority religion, Meshram had refuted the charges saying the directive was to encourage local performers and DMs were given Rs 1 lakh to give to the performers and not the priests.
STATE’S PUSH TO LOCAL ART
“I wondered, that when a film actor performs in a function, he charges lakhs and asks for the entire amount in advance. Whereas our artistes who are taking our culture forward have been paid peanuts and often with much delay. If you look at their costumes, they are often faded, torn and repaired and been worn for years,” Meshram told ET.
