Author: Arun Mohanty, Moscow
Publication: India Abroad
Date: April 8, 2001
Russia is perhaps the only European
country where the Valmiki Ramayana, written by the Hindu sage Valmiki,
has been translated into the local language several times in tens of thousands
of copies.
So it is hardly surprising that
more than a thousand people offered prayers and tributes to the Hindu god
Ram in the first ever large-scale Ramnavami celebrations, at which Russian
artistes and writers who took Ram's story to the people were felicitated.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center
(JNCC) at Moscow, as a part of its Ramnavami celebrations, organized a
function to honor those who are associated with translating and staging
the Ramayana as a play in Russia.
While eminent Indologist Alexander
Baranikov first translated the Ramayana into Russian in 1948, Natalia Guseva,
another prominent scholar on India, had written the script for a play based
on the Indian epic that was staged in Moscow Children's Theatre in the
erstwhile Soviet Union for the first time in 1957.
The Ramayana, popularly perceived
as a tale of triumph of good over evil, is used extensively for inculcating
noble values in Russian children, and has been staged in scores of cities
many times over during the past five decades.
Speaking at the function organized
by the JNCC, Guseva highlighted the role of the great Indian epic in bringing
up generations of Russian children. She praised the contribution of the
then Indian ambassador K.P.S. Menon and his wife in making the first staging
of the Ramayana at Moscow a big success.
Gennady Pechnikov, a popular Russian
actor who played the role of Ram at Moscow's Children Theatre for several
decades and popularly known as the 'Russian Ram', recalled how Jawaharlal
Nehru during his visit to the Soviet Union in 1961 set aside his official
appointment to witness the Ramayana in the Moscow theatre and was greatly
impressed by the staging of the epic by Russian artistes.
Pechnikov, talking about his numerous
visits to India with his troupe to stage the epic in different Indian cities,
recalled the warm reception Russian artistes received there.
The Indian Ambassador to Russia,
Satinder Lamba, expressed his gratitude to Russian scholars and artists
for their contribution in popularizing the epic in Russia.
At another function at the House
of Culture of the Moscow Oil and Gas Institute, a popular site for the
celebration of many Indian festivals, about 1,000 people gathered for Ramnavami
celebrations. One of the attractions was a drawing competition on India's
festivals and national days, in which more than 100 children in took part.
Much to the jury's delight, participants
demonstrated a deep knowledge of Indian festivals and national days in
their paintings. Some paintings on characters of the Ramayana and its different
episodes drew applause from both jury and the crowd.
The function, held amid recitation
of verses from the Ramayana and a presentation of devotional songs, was
one of several organized by Moscow's Indian expatriate community.
