The famous Ram Barat of North India in Agra started 82 years ago. The king of Dholpur used to send a royal band of elephants and silver houda to Rambarat. The merchants of the city used to walk in bullock carts with the procession and distribute dry fruits, utensils, fruits. The procession was taken out in the light of lanterns and hunts.
The route of Ram Barat to be taken out in the old city is the same as that of the first Ram Barat. Three generations of Shri Ramlila Committee minister Rajiv Agarwal have been associated with the event. He told that till the 70s, Ram Barat used to start at 5-6 in the evening. The procession would reach Janakpuri only at night and the rituals continued till the morning.
Shri Ram used to go out sitting on an elephant.
He told that till the year 1947, the Maharaja of Dholpur used to send elephants, silver houda, on which Shri Ramchandra ji used to sit and send his royal band baja for Ram Baraat every year. At the forefront of the procession was a small round chariot carrying a huge yellow flag on which was written Shri Ramchandraya Namah.
Rajiv Aggarwal told that his great-grandfather Lala Kokamal was the General Secretary of the committee for 50 years. Once the baraat was attacked by criminal elements, the band and the drummers fled. Lala Kokamal and other office bearers took the procession to Janakpuri by playing the band and drums themselves.
12 Mandi akhadas used to perform art
The procession consisted of akhadas of 12 mandis. In these, groups of 40-50 youths used to perform tricks on the beats of drums along with masters carrying batons, swords, sticks. The masters competed to showcase their arts better than each other. Those who performed feats of fire etc. also used to go along. There were stickmen playing with the chariots.
The committee used to arrange these wooden sticks which were kept in each chariot. By the 70s, the Shri Ramlila Committee had about 10 wooden chariots built by itself, 4 wooden dolas in the form of horses and an Airavat elephant made of wood. There were tableaux in them.
Expenditure reached from 10 thousand to 1.30 crore rupees
In the year 1940, the expenditure of Rambarat, Janakpuri and Ramlila was 10 thousand rupees. In the year 1980 it increased to more than one lakh. The expenditure in the year 2019 was around Rs 1.30 crore. In this, the budget of Rambarat, Ramlila was more than 50 lakhs, while the budget of Janakpuri, adorned in Nirbhay Nagar, was 80 lakhs.
Expansion
The famous Ram Barat of North India in Agra started 82 years ago. The king of Dholpur used to send a royal band of elephants and silver houda to Rambarat. The merchants of the city used to walk in bullock carts with the procession and distribute dry fruits, utensils, fruits. The procession was taken out in the light of lanterns and hunts.
The route of Ram Barat to be taken out in the old city is the same as that of the first Ram Barat. Three generations of Shri Ramlila Committee minister Rajiv Agarwal have been associated with the event. He told that till the 70s, Ram Barat used to start at 5-6 in the evening. The procession would reach Janakpuri only at night and the rituals continued till the morning.
Shri Ram used to go out sitting on an elephant.
He told that till the year 1947, the Maharaja of Dholpur used to send elephants, silver houda, on which Shri Ramchandra ji used to sit and send his royal band baja for Ram Baraat every year. At the forefront of the procession was a small round chariot carrying a huge yellow flag on which was written Shri Ramchandraya Namah.
Ritika
