Bikaner News Desk: A unique tradition has been going on in Bikaner on Diwali for years. According to tradition, every year on Diwali there is a reading of the Urdu version of the Hindu epic Ramayana. Meaning Urdu Ramayana is narrated to the people. In this annual event, Urdu poets recite the Urdu version of Ramayana. This Ramayana in Urdu was written about 89 years ago and it also received the ‘Gold Medal’ of Banaras Hindu University.
Urdu Ramayana is recited every year
Urdu teacher and poet Dr. Zia-ul-Hassan Qadri recited Urdu Ramayana along with two other Muslim poets at a function on Sunday. He said that the objective of this program is to give a positive message of harmony and brotherhood. Tourism Writers Association and Mehfil-e-Adab jointly organize Urdu Ramayana reading program every year. He told that this short adaptation of Ramayana gives a vivid description of the scenes of the original epic, Lord Rama’s exile, victory over Ravana and his return to Ayodhya, which is very much liked by the city audience.
Maulvi Badshah Hussain Rana Lakhnavi of Bikaner had prepared a poetic version of Ramayana in Urdu language for a competition organized by Banaras Hindu University on the birth anniversary of Tulsidas in 1935. It won a gold medal in the competition, after which the then ruler of Bikaner, Maharaja Ganga Singh, organized a function to hear Rana Lakhnavi’s version. In this program, Tej Bahadur Sapru presented the gold medal to Rana Lucknowi on behalf of Banaras Hindu University.
Bikaner has this tradition since 2012
Qadri, who recited it in Bikaner before Diwali, wants to carry forward the tradition that has been going on since 2012. Qadri said that Urdu Ramayana is recited by Muslim poets and the audience is from two communities, Hindu and Muslim. Qadri said that earlier this program used to be held in the open, but later the venue changed and now it is organized in a hotel so that the arrangements are better. He told that Maulvi Badshah Hussain Rana Lakhnavi worked for the then ruler Ganga Singh from 1913 to 1919 and during this time he translated the orders issued by the Mughal rulers from Persian to Urdu. In 1920, Ganga Singh appointed him a teacher in Dungar College.
