In the era of digital technology, imagine men still dressing as female characters to narrate stories.

The age old charm of Ramleela remains vivid in Jamshedpur, The Ramleela Utsav Samity in Jamshedpur has kick-started its annual Ramleela Utsav from September 27 at the age old Ramleela Maidan in Sakchi. This year being the 97th year of Ramleela, special arrangements have been made. A team from Madhya Pradesh will be presenting saga of Ramayana till October 8.

"We have maintained the rich heritage of Ramleela. We get overwhelming response every year and this has helped us to organise it successfully from past nine decades. The crowd that we get every year motivates us to organise the show on grand scale.

 If people in this age of social media platforms come to the Ramleela Maidan in Sakchi to watch Ramayana being performed on stage, it proves that we have been successful. We are looking forward to celebrate 100 years in next four years. We are hoping for the best. We will organise the cetenary year on grand scale ," said an official of the Ramleela Utsav Samity at a press meet in Sakchi. The unique thing about Ramleela at Sakchi is that till date, they do have female artists.

The committee has maintained the age old tradition. "The crowd motivates us to organise the show every year. If people in this virtual era comes to Ramleela maidan in Sakchi only to watch Ramayana being performed on stage then organising it is a success. Four years later, we will be in our centenary year," said Manoj Kumar Mishra, working president of Ramleela Utsav Samity.

The total budget of the 10 day festivity is Rs 3.10 lakh with the Ramleela group charging Rs 1 lakh. The organisers informed that in spite of  price hike, members of  Samity which has 60 core members contribute and seek donation to organise the same.