Ramnagar Ramlila

Every autumn, the quiet town of Ramnagar on the eastern bank of the Ganga becomes the world's largest open-air theatre. For thirty-one consecutive nights, the Ramnagar Ramlila re-enacts the entire Ramayana across a moving stage that has no walls: the epic's cities of Ayodhya, Janakpur, Chitrakoot, Panchvati, Kishkindha and Lanka are permanent locations scattered around the town, each an actual pond, garden, field or courtyard, so the audience walks with the story from one 'kingdom' to the next as the days unfold.

• Boy-Brahmins cast as the swarups — the divine embodiments of Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughan — deliver their lines while robed reciters called Ramayanis chant Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas, and tens of thousands of pilgrims and villagers follow on foot.
• There are no microphones, no electric floodlights and no ticket booths; the leela is carried entirely by the human voice and the flicker of oil lamps and petromax gas lanterns, exactly as it has been for almost two centuries.
• The tradition was begun around 1830 by the Kashi Naresh, Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh, and has been sustained ever since by the royal house of Banaras, whose head still attends in person — arriving in ceremonial procession, sometimes on an elephant or in an open carriage — as the leela's first and most honoured spectator.
• Many of the supporting roles are hereditary, passed down within Ramnagar families across generations.
• Ramlila, of which the Ramnagar cycle is the most celebrated example, was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
• Its most famous nights are legendary in their own right: the wedding of Ram and Sita, the Nakkataiya episode around the sixteenth day, the slaying of Ravana on Dussehra, the tearful Bharat Milap reunion, and the final Rajgaddi coronation when Ramnagar Fort itself stands in for the palace of Ayodhya.
• Attending is free and open to everyone, but it rewards preparation.
• Performances usually begin in the late afternoon, around 4:30 to 5:00 pm, and run for three to four hours deep into the night, so plan for a long, unhurried evening on foot over uneven ground.
• Carry a torch, wear comfortable footwear, keep some cash for the pontoon-bridge or boat crossing, and confirm the day's episode and location in advance, as the 'stage' shifts daily.
• The big-draw nights — Nakkataiya, Dussehra and Bharat Milap — draw enormous, tightly packed crowds, so arrive early and travel light.
• For vegetarian travellers, the Ramlila and its surroundings are wonderfully easy.
• As a Hindu devotional festival held in the deeply satvik atmosphere of Kashi, the food culture around it is overwhelmingly pure-vegetarian and alcohol-free by tradition — festival stalls sell aloo-tikki, kachori-sabzi, jalebi, samosa and hot milky chai, all meat-free.
• Just across the new Ramnagar bridge, the Lanka–BHU neighbourhood has dependable pure-veg kitchens such as Keshari Restaurant and Sagar Ratna, while the old-city classics like Madhur Milan Café serve crisp South Indian dosas.
• Vegetarians can eat freely here without a second thought, though it is always worth a polite check that a stall's frying oil and sweets are fresh.