Traditional Ramlila (Sanskrit: रामलीला, romanized: Rāmalīlā; literally 'Rama's lila or play') is any dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana or secondary literature based on it such as the Ramcharitmanas.

[1] It particularly refers to the thousands[2] of the Hindu god Rama-related dramatic plays and dance events, that are staged during the annual autumn festival of Navaratri in India.

[4][5][6] Rama is the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu and the central figure of the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic that integrates performance arts with stories driven by ethical values.

Most Ramlilas in North India are based on the 16th-century secondary work on Ramayana, Ramcharitmanas a verse form composition in the regional vernacular language (Awadhi a dialect of Hindi[7]), by Tulsidas.

[4][9] The epic and its dramatic play migrated into Southeast Asia in the 1st millennium CE, and Ramayana based Ramlila is a part of performance art culture of Indonesia particularly the Hindu society of Bali, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand.

According to James Lochtefeld, the word connotes a "playful drama about Rama", where it is both entertainment and a "deeply serious religious act" that has spiritual significance to both the actors and the audience.

[6] According to Norvin Hein, a professor of Divinity and of Religious Studies specialising in Indology, Ramlila was in vogue before 1625, at least in North India between 1200 and 1500 CE, but these were based on Valmiki's Ramayana.

[6][18][19] According to Richard Schechner, the contemporary Ramlila has deeper roots, as it incorporates both the teachings of ancient Sanskrit texts and modern theatre techniques.

[22] Thus, not only Ramalila, but all ancient epics of India must very likely have been recited and transmitted by bards and students in Ramlila-like manner, verbally from one generation to another, and consistently preserved across a wide geographic region by rules of acting by many teams.

However, states Hein, a dance-drama form of Ramayana enactment flourished at least in the Mathura region much earlier, possibly around the early centuries of the common era by the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism.

[4] The audience such as the villagers participate spontaneously, playing roles or helping out in setting and cleaning up the stage, making costumes, and upkeep of the Ramlila area.

[25] In many rural areas, traditional venues for Ramlila have developed over the centuries, and hundreds of people will often make the trip nightly to attend the play, by walking over miles like a religious pilgrimage in earlier times.

[2][25][27] The early-twentieth-century poem Radheshyam Ramayan by Pandit Radheshym Kathavachak is commonly used in Ramlila theatre because of its commentary on the political climate at the time in addition to the use of simple language and symbolism.

[31] According to a 2008 UNESCO report, the most notable Ramlila traditions are those observed annually at Ayodhya, Ramnagar and Varanasi, Vrindavan, Almora, Satna and Madhubani.

[32] Many urban Ramilias now have dialogues written in Khadi Boli or in local dialects, but the treatment remains melodramatic as always to achieve maximum impact amidst an audience that knows the story by heart, but watches the enactment nevertheless for religious fervour and also for its spectacle value, making Ramlila an important event in the religious as well as the social calendar of not only in small town and villages but also many big cities.

Just other folk theatre form of India, like Jatra of Bengal, topic themes are often interwoven in the script to have relevance and sometimes humour is used to offer a critic or commentary over current happenings.

[36][37] Preparations begin, weeks before its commencement, even the audition process is traditionally attended to by the Maharaja, where Svarupas, literally divine embodiment, the various characters of the Ramayana, are chosen from amongst local actors.

In the end, as the swarups, actors depart, they take off their garlands and offer it to Royal family members and give darshan to the audience, after the performance one last time.

Thereafter, a jhanki, literally a peep or glimpse, tableaux of frozen iconic moments from the 'Manas', is presented, which not only distill and crystallise the message of the story for the audience but is also appreciated for its spectacular effect.

Ramleela here started in 1932 during British time and from then its played every year continuously with the grace of God during Dussera and celebrated Silver, Golden and Diamond jubilee.

Over the centuries, Ramlila has evolved into a highly venerated art form and has travelled to far corners of the globe, through Indian diaspora, not as acts of "cultural recovery", rather as fresh expressions of persistent faith.

[citation needed] The Rama story is also enacted in another popular art form as a nighttime fire shadow or day time puppet show.