Bikaner: People of Bikaner have already immersed themselves in the fevour of Holi with its 300-year-old folk drama 'Rammat' starting much ahead of the festival.
Holi in Bikaner has its own distinct impression wherein the entire city stays awake the entire night. The Pushkarna Brahmins, who reside in the inner areas of Bikaner have made the festival world famous. What draws maximum attention is the Rammat, which has been carried forward from one generation to the next. Rammat is staged in different areas of Bikaner.
Rehearsals for Rammat start from Basant Panchami. It is staged like a drama but it is actually a folk art. Bhakta Purnamal and Shehzadi Nautanki ~ the two Rammats which are being organised for nearly 400 years, are held in Bisson Chowk of Bikaner.
Rammat's main artist Kishan Kumar Bissa said that the folk art was started with the purpose of bringing together the loved ones at one place on the occasion of festival in the name of entertainment and now this has become a tradition. Bissa said that he is the sixth generation of his family, who is associated with this tradition.
