New Delhi, Once upon a time red sherbet flowed, as if blood, from a Ravana effigy. In a different era when the British ruled, their Indian soldiers in costumes re-enacted the battle between the armies of Rama and Ravana, their horses painted with henna, decked in jewellery. This was an older Delhi when Dussehra and Ramlila were very different spectacles from those seen today.
From the Mughal emperor's 'jharokha' overlooking the Yamuna to the cantonments of the East India Company and today's sprawling Ramlila grounds with giant screens and AI effects, the city over the centuries has found myriad ways of bringing the Ramayana to life.
