The Ramayana in tune
By O. P. Bhagat

THE Ramayana has long been a favourite with music companies. Old-timers will tell you of the sets of four or more discs which told the epic, or some of its episodes, in capsule form.

The accent was on singing, though lines of prose dialogue came in between. Some other singers recorded then, as some do now, songs in praise of Rama. Add to these records of Hanuman Chalisa, a long prayer to Rama’s devoted friend or devotee.

Records of films like Ram Rajya were popular once. Vividh Bharati plays some of the songs even today. New Ramayana records are not cut any more. It is all tape, audio or video.

The video cassettes are of the marathon TV serial, Ramayana. Its popularity spurred its maker, Ramanand Sagar, to come up with a sequel, Uttara Ramayan. But more, a lot more, than the video are audio cassettes. They range from a single-cassette album of Ram bhajans or katha to a set of the entire Tulsidas epic, Ramacharitamanasa.

Playback singer Mukesh’s eight-cassette Ramcharitamanas (HMV) — he is the main singer — may seem too long. But for the set Tulsidas’s text of the epic has been abridged. Also in eight cassettes is the abridged Tulsi Ramayana (T-Series) which Anuradha Paudwal and Babla Mehta present together.

For those interested in Tulsi’s complete epic, there is the Sampoorna Ramayana (Venus). The singer is Anup Jalota. If you want something you can listen to at one or two sittings, there is a double-cassette album. It has the music and lyrics of the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra‘s Ramlila.

This Ramlila has for years been a regular autumn event in Delhi. The entire story is presented within three hours on a three-panel stage. It is a spectacle of sound, colour and light.

The dialogue and the linking lines are from Tulsi. Several voices sing them in the background. The music varies, from folk to near classical.

Music India’s Ramayana is in four cassettes. It was recorded as a double LP album to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Tulsidas’s great work. Now four cassettes have replaced the LPs. However, it is the first two cassettes that tell the Rama story. The third cassette is of bhajans and other songs of devotion to Rama. In the fourth Anup Jalota sings Hanuman Chalisa, Sankatmochan and an arti.

Say Surdas, and you at once think of the songs of Krishna. But he sang of Rama too. In fact, he told his entire story in what is called the Sur Ramayana. It is shorter than Tulsi’s and is in simpler Hindi.

Suitably shortened, it is presented by Anup Jalota in a Music India double LP album. But it is not as well-known as his cassettes of bhajans though it is not less sweet. The music varies with the mood. Thus the story has the right effects. You feel as if you were at a katha session where the epic is told in song. The album is as much for the devout as for those who would like the story melodiously told.

The fifth canto of the Ramayana is Sundar Kand. As the name suggests, it is full of beauty. Also full of the essence of bhakti. For it is an "ocean" of divine thoughts and feelings packed into a "pot".

Nitin, son of Mukesh, presents the canto in four cassettes (HMV). The set was blessed by the Sankatmochan temple of Hanuman at Varanasi. Along with the set comes the text of the canto in a neatly printed booklet.

Babla Mehta has recorded the Sunder Kand in three cassettes (T-Series). It is a livelier presentation. Also in T-Series is the three-cassette Sampoorna Sundar Kand in Hari Om Sharan’s sweet and crisp voice.

If you would just sample the Kand, listen to Pawan Chopra’s single cassette (Weston). You will like Pawan’s voice and the way he sings.

Hanuman’s story is for the most part twined round Rama’s. So a Ramayana of its own kind is Jai Jai Shri Hanuman (HMV). Besides reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, Hari Om Sharan sings a few songs and artis to the monkey god.

It is said that Hanuman loves to listen to the Rama story. He is present wherever it is sung or recited. But so sweet and appealing is Shri Hanuman that even Rama would like to listen to the album.

Suno Suno Shreeram Kahani (Tips) is a three-cassette set. The text, in simple Hindi verse, is by J.K. Satpal. It has been set to music and sung by C. Laxmichand. The devout, not versed in Tulsi’s Awadhi, will surely like it. Others may also find it good.

Also in simple Hindi is the double-cassette Jai Shriram Katha (Venus) and three-cassette (Sun Lo Pavan Ram Kahani(T-Series). Of the second the singers are Anuradha Paudwal and Nitin Mukesh. A one-cassette or "one-hour" listening is Jai Siya Rama (Plus Sound). It is a chorus by a group of singers in Kirtan style. It is just the thing for those who like Kirtan and Katha.

For those who like or prefer bhajans, there are quite many albums. One is Lata Mangeshkar’s gem of an LP (now an audio cassette) Ram Ratan Dhan Payo (Music India). It includes Tulsi’s stotra, Jai Ram Rama, and the song, Thumak chalat Ramchandra.

Also under the same title is Prasun Mukherjee’s cassette of Rama bhajans (Weston). Mukherjee’s voice is rather like Hemant Kumar’s.

Tulsi Bhajanamrit (T-Series) is a collection of 10 Tulsi songs, sung by Anuradha Paudwal. In Bhajanarpan (Music India) Pt Bhimsen Joshi and Lata Mangeshkar present eight songs. Among them is Bhimsen Joshi’s Thumak chalat Ramachandra with the maestro’s classical touch.

Also in classical style are the Rama and Hanuman songs, as also the hymns to Vishnu, in some of the Music Today cassettes.

Songs of the latest epic-based film, Lav Kush, are available in a double-cassette album (Plus Channel). Music is by Ram Laxman, of the Maine Pyar Kiya fame.

Another cassette that brings the epic up to date is the music of the Japanese animation Ramayana (United Music). Vanraj Bhatia’s tunes are a blend of "Western symphonies and Indian ragas".