1. P. Richman, Many Ramayanas^[*] ; R. Thapar, "The Ramayana Syndrome."

2. I find Sahoo's work more helpful than other surveys of this kind in Hindi and Oriya.

3. Bulke acknowledges his debt to K. C. Sahoo, his student, for Oriya references (238-43 in the 3rd edition).

4. W. L. Smith focuses upon Balarama^[*] Dasa and Visvanatha Khuntia^[*] for Orissa, dismissing Upendra Bhañja as very difficult (34). His entire framework seems to privilege Valmiki as canonical. Nonetheless this work includes invaluable references to "apocryphal" vernacular variants in eastern India.

5. A. K. Ramanujan describes this role as faithful or iconic ("Three Hundred Ramayanas^[*] ," 44). I shall not use the semiotic terminology of Charles Sanders Pierce because "iconic" has such divergent connotations in common usage.

6. These dates, and some alternatives, are cogently presented by Robert Goldman in his introduction to vol. 1 of the: Princeton University Press translation of Valmiki.

7. Valmiki, Ramayana^[*] , ed. G. H. Bhatt.

8. The eastern recension is most easily accessible in the text and Italian translation of Gaspare Gorresio.

9. For a fuller discussion of the theory of eight (or nine) rasas and the distinction between this kind of abstracted sentiment and bhava , or actual human emotion, see D. H. H. Ingalls, An Anthology of Sanskrit Court Poetry , 13-17.

10. W. L. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , especially chap. 3. Smith's argument for the Oriya reflects his focus upon Balarama^[*] Dasa, and Smith's summary of Valmiki's structure includes precisely those events upon which the eastern vernacular versions do agree, omitting others.

11. At least twenty-five appear under the title Arsa^[*] (= Risi^[*] ) Ramayana^[*] in the Orissa State Museum: K. Mahapatra, Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts of Orissa , 3:6-15. One, catalogue no. 13, was sent to Baroda for the compilation of the critical edition of Valmiki's Ramayana^[*] . The term Arsa^[*] Ramayana^[*] may also designate translations of Valmiki into Oriya.

12. B. C. Mazumdar, Typical Selections from Oriya Literature , 1:xxiii. It has been argued, however, on the basis of passages that are directly translated from the Sanskrit, that Balarama^[*] Dasa must actually have known Valmiki in written form: K. C. Sahoo, "Indian Rama Literature and Jagamohan Ramayana," 176.

13. P. Lutgendorf, "Ramayan: The Video." Lutgendorf stresses the relationship to the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsi Das but discusses ways in which the serial departed from it as it both drew upon diverse traditions and remained embedded in concerns of the 1980s.

14. P. C. Bagchi, Introduction to Adhyatmaramayanam^[*] , 76. Cf. K. Bulke, Ramkatha , 166-67; F. Whaling, The Rise of the Religious Significance of Rama , 113 (denying the tradition that Ramananda came from the south); J. L. Brockington, Righteous Rama: The Evolution of an Epic , 252-57; B. L. Baij Nath, The Adhyatma Ramayana (although this translation is not always accurate, because of its accessibility my text citations follow its numbering system).

15. K. Bulke, Ramkatha , ch. 12.

16. G. S. Ghurye, Indian Sadhus , 172-74. Whaling, Rise of the Religious Significance of Rama , 177. While the Adhyatma Ramayana^[*] has been ascribed to Ramananda, the founder of the sect, this attribution is open to question. Evidence about the Ramanandins is conflicting; for instance, they are said to follow a qualified dualism, although the Adhyatma is unabashedly monastic (Ghurye, 165).

17. F. Whaling, Rise of the Religious Significance of Rama , 217, and chaps. 14 and 16 in general.

18. P. C. Bagchi, Introduction, 60.

19. F. Whaling, Rise of the Religious Significance of Rama , 198.

20. K. C. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 175-76. I have worked from the Sharada Press translation of Gopala's translation of the Adhyatma Ramayana^[*] , published in Berhampur, n.d.

21. The illustrated one, from the Dasavatara Matha^[*] near Jajpur, Cuttack District, is discussed below in Chapter 2. A second, from Madhupur, also Cuttack District, is in the Orissa State Museum, Bhubaneswar, no. P/182A: K. Mahapatra, Descriptive Catalogue , 3:38.

22. The only copy I have seen is in the Library of the City Palace, Jaipur (Rajasthan). G. N. Bahura, Literary Heritage of the Rulers of Amber and Jaipur , 65 (no. 2767). This Brahma Ramayana^[*] , like the illustrated Oriya copy, comprises only five books (numbered 13 to 17), although Bulke's account suggests that more complete manuscripts must exist.

23. K. Bulke, Ramkatha , 178-79.

24. Lutgendorf discusses this religious movement, known as rasik sadhana , making clear that the form devoted to Rama is not derivative from the more familiar Krisna^[*] form ("The Secret Life of Ramcandra," 219-28).

25. M. Mansinha, History of Oriya Literature , 50-69. I concur with K. C. Sahoo ("Oriya Rama Literature," 31-36) in rejecting the Vilanka Ramayana^[*] as a work of the same author. In the case of both Sarala and Balarama^[*] Dasa, I make no pretense of having read the entire work in Oriya.

26. For example, Dasaratha is cursed by the divine cow in the same way that Dilipa was Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa^[*] (W. L. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 20).

27. C. Das, A Glimpse into Oriya Literature , 65.

28. M. Mansinha, History of Oriya Literature , 62-63.

29. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 56 (although Sarala describes the demon as meditating in an anthill, not a mound of earth as Smith says). I cannot share Smith's assumption of direct influence from the Jain Paumacariyam , as opposed to shared oral sources.

30. K. Bulke, Ramkatha 238-39.

31. W. L. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 38-40.

32. B. C. Mazumdar, Typical Selections from Oriya Literature , 1:xxiii.

33. K. C. Sahoo, "Indian Rama Literature," 176. The tellers (Brahma, Siva, Jagannatha, and Valmiki) are not identical with Tulsi Das's. Cf. Philip Lutgendorf, "The View from the Ghats."

34. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 93, and "Indian Rama Literature," 176-78. In general Sahoo stresses the plurality of sources synthesized by Balarama^[*] Dasa.

35. K. Bulke, Ramkatha , 241. W. L. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 121, 125. For example, the curse of the Phalgu River for the rapacious behavior of the Gaya brahmans (an antiestablishmentarian theme) occurs in Bengali written texts. The Sabari's gift of fruit she has tasted and the assistance of a squirrel or mouse in building the bridge to Lanka^[*] are found in Telugu folklore.

36. M. Mansinha, History of Oriya Literature , 96.

37. W. L. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 167.

38. K. C. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 67-70; K. Bulke, Ramkatha , 239-90.

39. L.D. Institute (Ahmedabad) Ms. 20, discussed below in Chapter 2.

40. Nilambara Dasa, sixteenth century; Mahesvara Dasa, mid-seventeenth century W. L. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 33.

41. K. C. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 36. W. L. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 142-44. This episode had occurred in the Sanskrit Adbhuta Ramayana^[*] .

42. K. C. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 167.

43. The headquarters of Ghumsar was called Russelkonda from 1837 until after India's independence, when it was renamed Bhanjanagar. Royal families titled Bhañja go back to the fourth century A.D.

44. K. C. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 138-39.

45. Smith gives Upendra's dates as 1670 to 1720, a year that seems too early for his death ( Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 33). Kedarnath Mahapatra suggests that he lived until 1753 ( Khurudha Itihasa ), as does Dandapani Behera ( Freedom Movement in the State of Ghumsar in Orissa , 6). Upendra's claims to have undertaken tantric practices to obtain poetic power need not be taken at face value (M. Mansinha, History of Oriya Literature , 116). Mansinha presents a generally positive view of the poet's work, whereas B. C. Mazumdar is broadly damning ( Typical Selections from Oriya Literature , 2:xvi-xxv).

46. M. Mansinha, History of Oriya Literature , 118.

47. I have found no correspondence between this story and various Sanskrit tales in which the names Lavanyavati^[*] and Chandrabhanu appear.

48. The performer is called an indrajalaka , usually translated "magician," although the illustration in Raghunath Prusti's manuscript of the Lavanyavati^[*] , which I discuss later in Chapters 3-5, shows a troupe of people (Figure 193), perhaps something like the Gujarati bhavai , which consists of conjuring and other entertainments, including folk drama.

49. B. C. Mazumdar, Typical Selections from Oriya Literature , 2:xii. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 158-61. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 34.

50. W. L. Smith, Ramayana^[*] Traditions in Eastern India , 148-51.

51. Daniel H. H. Ingalls originated this translation (a propos of Krisnalila^[*] ), the implicit pun ("jest") referring to the literal meaning of lila , "sport."

52. Dashahra designates the tenth day of the bright half of the lunar month of Asvina. Ramanavami is the ninth clay of the bright half of the lunar month of Chaitra. A life of Chaitanya suggests that in the sixteenth century Ramalila^[*] took place in Purl at Dashahra time (N. Hein, Miracle Plays of Mathura , 109-10).

53. K. C. Sahoo mentions him in "Oriya Rama Literature." In 1983 I was told that Vikrama Narendra was from Ghumsar. The text on paper now in use was copied from a palm-leaf manuscript about twenty years ago.

54. N. Bisoi, Dasapalla Itihasa (in Oriya), 10. The temple bears a plaque that dates its consecration to December 23, 1903. From 1884 to 1886 the Oriya writer Fakirmohan Senapati was diwan of Dasapalla, and his autobiography says that most of the rural population of the state was Khond or Khaira, i.e. aboriginals ( My Times and I , 81).

55. For the origin of this Laksmana-rekha^[*] in a minor work by Tulsi Das and its propagation as part of restrictions put on women, see U. Chakravarti, "The Development of the Sita Myth: A Case Study of Women in Myth and Literature," Samya Shakti 1, no. 1 (1983), 73.

56. Local legend has it that the headman of Bisipada 160 years ago had seen the Dasapalla Ramalila^[*] and wished to emulate that. Rama came to the brahman Janardana Dasa, who agreed to write a text and required that he be allowed to meditate for twenty days uninterrupted in a temple near the town. At the end of that time, the villagers found that he had vanished, leaving a completed manuscript.

57. This canopy was made by a visiting artisan from Pipli, the Muslim appliqué center between Bhubaneswar and Puri. The canopy must already have been old in 1923, the date of repair embroidered on it. Concerning the Pipli tradition in general, see B. C. Mohanty, Appliqué Craft of Orissa .

58. See Chapter 2 for the story of Jagannath Mahapatra of the pata^[*] tradition. Vaisya Sadasiva may have lived in the later eighteenth century (K. C. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 192-93); his text is widely available today.

59. In no Orissan version have I seen the systematic conversion of an entire town into the landscape of the play that characterizes the peripatetic Ramalila^[*] of Ramnagar in Uttar Pradesh. Cf. S. Bonnemaison and C. Macy, "The RamLila in Ramnagar." Thus in Dasapalla, the stage serves as Chitrakuta^[*] until Rama leaves to shoot the illusionary deer, when suddenly audience and actors move to a spot 300 meters away and the hut is relocated. After this, Lanka^[*] is generally located 500 meters further down the road, although some action in Lanka^[*] also takes place on the original stage.

60. This Ramalila^[*] begins on Aksaya^[*] Tirtha, the third day of the lunar month of Vaisakh (following Chaitra), a significant moment in the Jagannatha ritual calendar. My source for this information is Purna Chandra Mishra of Purl.

61. My source for this information is the late lamented Dhiren Dash of Bhubaneswar.

62. The manuscript in the National Museum, New Delhi, is discussed in Chapter 2. Cf. K. C. Sahoo, "Oriya Rama Literature," 167.

63. My source for this information is Raghunath Panigrahi of Chikiti, who had himself acted under the guidance of his father, a major singer ( gayaka ) and exponent of the tradition, in which the last king's son also took part. The paper manuscript in use in the 1950s, preserved by Raghunath Panigrahi, appears to be a version of Krishna Chandra Rajendra's text, simplified by a later ruler. After the Ramalila^[*] ceased, Jatra troupes continued to perform occasionally in Chikiti.

64. I visited this village on April 14, 1990, and my information comes from several local people, who said that the performance used to be based on Vaisya Sadasiva, Vikrama Narendra, and Ananga Narendra (another nineteenth-century author). The patrons were local Khandayats, but there was no royal family. In Dasapalla, the Hanumana mask is likewise kept in the Mahavir shrine and worshiped.

65. The Temple Endowment Board kindly allowed me to check their schedule of performances, which goes back to 1977. Some variation might be explained by weather, although in 1990 in the event of rain they read the text while canceling the enactment, sticking to schedule. Moreover, Thursday is an inauspicious day and performance was often, but not consistently, suspended then, spreading the entire Ramalila^[*] over a longer period.

66. Such variations occurred both in Dasapalla, as documented by records, and in Bisipada, where in 1983 I saw the breaking of Siva's bow combined with Rama's marriage, whereas in 1990 the first event had taken place on the previous night and the marriage led directly to the encounter with Parasurama.

67. In the printed program, Bharata's visit was listed for the seventh night, but this was said to be a mistake. Some such variations may result from the direct reading of the text by the gayakas , who literally have the last word, whereas the program is the work of the temple administrator. This division need not imply disagreement; it may rather indicate an accepted diversity of function.

68. The kidnapping must occur on the full moon of Chaitra, a requirement in Danda^[*] Jatra as well.

69. Killing the rhino is in fact a major event in Bisipada, where it occurs on tire main stage, rather than in procession. Gania, near Dasapalla, borrowed Vikrama Narendra's text but does not perform this event. The rhino itself is probably not the key to the incident. Although rhinos have not been found in Orissa for at least a century, people still speak of rhino meat as a precious substance suitable for sraddha . Those early dharmasastra texts that permit the consumption of meat mention that the ancestors are particularly gratified by the offering of rhino flesh: P V. Kane, History of Dharmasatra , 4:422. Cf. J. Bautze, "The Problem of the Khadga^[*] ."

70. L. Hess, "Ram Lila: The Audience Experience." R. Schechner, Between Theatre and Anthropology , chap. 4, "Ramalila of Ramnagar." Lutgendorf makes clear the variety of performances in the Banaras area, demonstrating that the smaller ones are not merely scaled-down versions of Ramnagar ( The Life of a Text , chap. 5).

71. Maya Sita must be played by a brahman in Dasapalla, thus intensifying Ravana's^[*] sin, that he kidnaps a brahman woman. The narrow stage in this portion of the performance reminds me of Prahlada Nataka^[*] , the drama of Narasimha's victory over Hiranyakasipu, which flourished in Ganjam District, where the innocent victim Prahlad paces up and down in a similar passageway in the midst of the crowd.

72. The effort of hoisting the image involves a large number of youths and carpenters and is part of the whole drama of Ramalila^[*] . The effigy is not supposed to be raised before dusk; one year when it was raised earlier in the day to accommodate a visit by the chief minister, it fell over.

73. My information is dependent upon the late Dhiren Dash of Bhubaneswar (who kindly told me about the form initially) and upon Omshankar Sarangi of Asureshvar, which I visited during the daytime. I have not actually seen the evening performance, nor has anything been written about it.

74. N. Hein, The Miracle Plays of Mathura , 17-30; P. Lutgendorf, The Life of a Text , 256-57.

75. There are thirty masks for rent today, according to the temple authorities. The vow begins with the kidnap of Sita on the full-moon day, when Hanumana's services become necessary.

76. D. Mukhopadhyay, "Sahi Yatra." Mukhopadhyay suggests that Sahi Jatra is linked to many of Jagannatha's vesas , or festive ornaments, throughout the year, although his suggestion is not borne out by my own observation in Puri. It is difficult to get a clear account of the performance from the temple priests, for they are not centrally involved. My impression is that Sahi Jatra varies considerably from year to year, its form determined in part by the initiative of the sahis and akhadas^[*] themselves. The performances are related to the military skills of the town, in the past fostered by the Purl Temple for its own defense; hence the prominence of Naga warriors.

77. The repertoire here has been shaped by cosmopolitan royal dancers and patrons, influenced by Uday Shankar and Javanese troupes that visited Calcutta. I am unable to see any particular connection between Seraikela or Baripada Chhau as they survive today and one illustrated manuscript produced in this area, the Baripada Vaidehisa Vilasa^[*] of Satrughna, discussed in Chapter 2. For example, in Seraikela Chhau, Risyasringa's^[*] mask consists of a human head with the ascetic's hair twisted upward to form a conical knot that vaguely resembles a horn; Satrughna depicts the sage with the full head of a two-horned blue antelope.

78. D. Dash, Jatra , 13-15, and Pala Itihasa Pala , an ingenious history of Pala in Pala-style Oriya verse.

79. J. Pani, Ravana Chhaya . The late puppet master Kathinanda Das preserved a set of puppets from the Mahabharata, although the equation of the entire genre with the name "Ravana's^[*] Shadow" suggests the centrality of the Ramayana^[*] . I saw performances in 1982 and 1983.

80. J. Pani, Ravana Chhaya , 21-31, provides a detailed summary of the episodes correlated with the text. Pani notes that the Uttara Kanda^[*] used to be performed, although it is not today

81. N. K. Sahu, state editor, Balangir District Gazeteer , 493-96. There are other shrines to Lankesvari^[*] in the region, for example a larger temple at Sambalpur. While one may not accept the historical identification of Sonepur with an actual Lanka^[*] in the epic, this theory points to an interesting cluster of local beliefs.

82. P. Richman, "E. V. Ramasami's Reading of the Ramayana^[*] ."