Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India

Overview

Every year in late April, the twin villages of Saloor-Dungra in the state of Uttarakhand (northern India) are marked by Ramman, a religious festival in honour of the tutelary god, Bhumiyal Devta, a local divinity whose temple houses most of the festivities. This event is made up of highly complex rituals: the recitation of a version of the epic of Rama and various legends, and the performance of songs and masked dances. The festival is organized by villagers, and each caste and occupational group has a distinct role. For example, youth and the elders perform, the Brahmans lead the prayers and perform the rituals, and the Bhandaris – representing locals of the Kshatriya caste – are alone entitled to wear one of the most sacred masks, that of the half-man, half-lion Hindu deity, Narasimha. The family that hosts Bhumiyal Devta during the year must adhere to a strict daily routine....

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: India
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: India
Countries: India

How the System Works

Music, Performance and Oral Literature Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ceremony, Spirituality and Cosmology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuid0f192250-4f6f-4832-b4b6-6bea7512f89b

ich_public_ref281

inscription_year2009

title_enRamman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India

title_frLe Ramman, festival religieux et théâtre rituel du Garhwal, dans l’Himalaya, en Inde

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesIN

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00281

concepts_primary_namesFestivals, Hinduism, Theatre

concepts_secondary_namesBladed weapons, Caste, Costumes, Epic poetry, Farmers, Folk literature, Masks, Musical instruments, Offering, Oral tradition, Ritual dance, Rituals, Temples, Trance, Vocal music

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/01763-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enNot supplied

main_image_copyrightIGNCA, Ministry of Culture

main_image_authorArvind Mudgil

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/TNvPNwOvWOg

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Festivals Hinduism Theatre Bladed weapons Caste Costumes Epic poetry Farmers Folk literature Masks Musical instruments UNESCO representative list

Review and Corrections

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