Ludhiana, Sept. 25 -- As the city is decked up with festive fervour for the ongoing Navratri celebrations, the traditional Ramleela stage in Ludhiana seems to be losing its local touch. Once a vibrant platform showcasing homegrown talent and community-led performances, the Ramleela nowadays is being increasingly dominated by professional theatre troupes brought in from outside the city.

Explaining the trend, organisers of several Ramleela committees across Ludhiana cite declining participation from local artistes as the main reason behind this shift. They noted that earlier, youngsters from the neighbourhood used to eagerly take part in rehearsals that went on for weeks. Entire families contributed to make the performances authentic and ...