• Many Rammans in Uttarakhand: Jak and Bhumyal Renditions
• Prateek (bio)

This essay is meant to serve as a compendium to my documentary, Many Rammans in Uttarakhand: Jak and Bhumyal Renditions, which can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISJ3Mnea0MU. The film highlights the diversity of the folk performance tradition of Ramman in the Indian hill state of Uttarakhand by analyzing two variants of the ritual, each dedicated to a village patron deity: one to Jak (alternatively known as Jakh) and the other to Bhumyal. Although the tradition is prevalent in many villages in the Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, the documentary focuses on the Ramman (dedicated to Jak) of Jaal Malla and Choumasa, two villages in the Rudraprayag district, and the Ramman (dedicated to Bhumyal) of Salud and Dungra, twin villages in the Chamoli district.

Map of the Jaal Malla, Choumasa, Salud, and Dungra villages in Uttarakhand, India. (Source: Prateek.)

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Before filming, I sought permission to shoot footage in these four villages from the village council or elders. In most cases, I took this permission orally for two reasons: First, the participants felt more comfortable with oral permissions due to my position as a village outsider, as well as their local cultural norms and low literacy rates. Second, some participants insinuated that the written word intruded upon a terrain that venerates the oral traditions of the Himalayas. So, rather than seek written permission, I did what my grandmother, a native of Uttarakhand, taught me: seek the blessing of the village deity in front of those whom I filmed. The villagers also underlined their implicit permission by providing me with accommodation, as these hamlets are in peripheral locations that lack easy road access and hotels.

D. R. Purohit, former faculty member at Hemvati Bahaguna Garhwal University, Srinagar, and a historian of the Garhwal region, provided guidance on identifying the four filming sites, which would have been otherwise difficult to locate. He has remained a significant influence on my ethnographic research. Purohit is a well-regarded expert on Garhwal, with a strong desire to assist other scholars researching the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Meanwhile, the credit for the documentary and my ethnographic process goes to my grandmother, Parvati Pandey, who since childhood has enriched me with regional folklore from the hill state while sensitizing me to the nuances of Uttarakhand’s demigods and deities. Her pedagogy instilled in me a critical eye toward oral traditions without succumbing to the desire to sensationalize or exoticize certain rituals, such as the possession ceremony. Nonetheless, I have deemed it necessary to restrict the documentary to audiences ages 18 and above due to the sensitivity of its content. This discerning gaze further allowed me to subject oral traditions to a critical analysis similar to that of written documents, a methodology advocated by Belgian historian and anthropologist Jan Vansina in his seminal work Oral Tradition as History.¹ My grandmother remained a regular port of call whenever the subtleties of the form puzzled me. Her interpretations and interpolations of Uttarakhand folklore set the stage for the documentary and kept me motivated throughout a difficult shoot. We often stumbled along narrow roads on our way to these villages. On one side sat a mountain where landslides are common; on the other lay a deep ravine. The cab driver who accompanied me was scared to drive, especially after a landslide compelled us to change the route. He suggested retreating several times, reminding me of the common belief in Uttarakhand that mountains and lakes seek annual balis (human sacrifices). Writer and Uttarakhand cultural historian Namita Gokhale has articulated this belief when describing how in the hill station of Nainital, Uttarakhand, it is thought that a popular lake “exacts a bali, a human sacrifice, every year . . . locals recognize that the elements are demanding their due.”² These challenges have made me understand the transformative character of these elements. Thus, I pay my obeisance to all beings—humans and nonhumans—especially the mountains who have made it possible for me to make this documentary.

This introductory essay provides context to Ramman and its difference from Ramlila, the...

• 
  北阿坎德邦的许多拉曼：Jak 和 Bhumyal 的演绎
•  普拉泰克（简介）

这篇文章旨在作为我的纪录片《北阿坎德邦的许多拉曼人：Jak 和 Bhumyal Renditions》的概要，可以在此处访问：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISJ3Mnea0MU。影片通过分析仪式的两种变体，突出了印度北阿坎德邦拉曼民间表演传统的多样性，每种仪式都献给一位村庄守护神：一种献给 Jak（也称为 Jakh），另一种献给 Bhumyal。尽管这一传统在北阿坎德邦 Garhwal 地区的许多村庄都很盛行，但这部纪录片重点关注了 Rudraprayag 地区的两个村庄 Jaal Malla 和 Choumasa 的 Ramman（献给 Jak），以及 Salud 和 Salud 的 Ramman（献给 Bhumyal）。 Dungra，查莫利区的双胞胎村庄。

印度北阿坎德邦 Jaal Malla、Choumasa、Salud 和 Dungra 村庄的地图。 （来源：Prateek。）

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在拍摄之前，我向村委会或长老们征求了在这四个村庄拍摄镜头的许可。在大多数情况下，我口头接受这种许可有两个原因：首先，由于我作为村外人的身份，以及他们当地的文化规范和较低的识字率，参与者对口头许可感到更舒服。其次，一些参与者暗示书面文字侵入了崇尚喜马拉雅山口头传统的领域。因此，我没有寻求书面许可，而是按照我的祖母（土生土长的北阿坎德邦人）教我的那样：在我拍摄的人面前寻求村神的祝福。村民们还为我提供住宿，强调了他们的默许，因为这些村庄位于外围地区，缺乏便捷的道路和酒店。

D. R. Purohit 是斯利那加 Hemvati Bahaguna Garhwal 大学的前教员，也是加瓦尔地区的历史学家，他为确定这四个拍摄地点提供了指导，否则很难找到这些拍摄地点。他对我的民族志研究仍然产生了重大影响。 Purohit 是一位备受推崇的 Garhwal 专家，他非常渴望帮助其他学者研究北阿坎德邦 Garhwal 地区。与此同时，这部纪录片和我的民族志研究过程要归功于我的祖母帕瓦蒂·潘迪(Parvati Pandey)，她从小就让我丰富了山州的地方民间传说，同时让我对北阿坎德邦半神和神的细微差别敏感。她的教学法向我灌输了对口头传统的批判性眼光，但又不屈服于对某些仪式（例如附身仪式）进行耸人听闻或异国情调的渴望。尽管如此，由于内容的敏感性，我认为有必要限制 18 岁及以上的观众观看该纪录片。这种敏锐的目光进一步使我能够对口头传统进行类似于书面文件的批判性分析，这是比利时历史学家和人类学家扬·万西纳在他的开创性著作《作为历史的口头传统》中倡导的方法。 ¹ 每当这种形式的微妙之处令我困惑时，我的祖母仍然是我的常客。她对北阿坎德邦民间传说的诠释和插补为这部纪录片奠定了基础，并在整个艰难的拍摄过程中让我充满动力。在前往这些村庄的路上，我们常常跌跌撞撞地沿着狭窄的道路前进。一侧是一座山，经常发生山体滑坡；另一侧是山体滑坡。另一边是一条深谷。 陪我的出租车司机不敢开车，尤其是在山体滑坡迫使我们改变路线之后。他多次建议撤退，让我想起北阿坎德邦的普遍信仰，即山脉和湖泊每年都会寻求巴利斯（活人祭祀）。作家兼北阿坎德邦文化历史学家纳米塔·戈卡莱 (Namita Gokhale) 在描述北阿坎德邦奈尼塔尔山站时，人们认为一个受欢迎的湖泊“每年都会进行巴厘活人祭祀”，他阐述了这一信念。 。 。当地人认识到这些因素有其应有的要求。” ² 这些挑战让我理解了这些元素的变革性特征。因此，我向所有众生——人类和非人类——尤其是山脉表示敬意，是他们使我能够制作这部纪录片。

这篇介绍性文章提供了拉曼的背景及其与拉姆利拉的区别，...