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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
9 min
01/10/2025
Come Navratri and Dussehra, some parts of the country celebrate something called Ramlila, a reenactment of Lord Ram and his adventures. Every drama watcher needs their fuel during this time, and around the performance areas, you will find food stalls selling their fare. You get panipuris, khichdi, vrat items and more.
Mostly tied to Delhi and its surrounding areas, Ramlila festivities might also be held in other states and their capitals, with the enactment of Lord Ram’s life drawing in crowds. With the crowds come hunger, and to beat hunger pangs, organisers turn it into a ‘mela’ or fair where you can find countless items from the staple street food like pani puri and kebabs to festive fare like khichdi and rasgullas. You will also find simple thalis and options that cater to those who are fasting. But here’s a list of food items that catch your eyes and nose pretty quickly.
Many North Indian Ramlila feast zones feature khichdi, which is light on the stomach, and super fragrant with just rice, lentils and some spices in it. The dish’s simplicity and ease of serving make it ideal for large gatherings during festival fairs. In fact, at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, back in 2019, a grand ‘samrasta khichdi’ of 5,000 kg was cooked and distributed during a special event. While the Delhi example was more of a political‑cultural spectacle, the presence of khichdi at Ramlila feasts more broadly speaks to its role as a warm, filling dish that transcends region and party.
This dish is eaten widely across North India, including Delhi, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, and is a popular street food item. Delhi’s Old City has a famous stall called Natraj Dahi Bhalla near Chandni Chowk that draws long queues for its dahi bhalla. While not an exclusive item, it does feature on feast menus, whether or not grabbed from a famous spot, as Ramlila feasts tend to be almost like a carnival. The combination of soft lentil dumplings soaked in chilled yoghurt and topped with chutneys, spices, and herbs is the perfect crowd-pleaser.
Also known as holige or puran poli, obattu is a sweet flatbread stuffed with jaggery and lentils, commonly made during major Hindu festivals in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra. While not directly tied to this festival, obattu is often prepared during Navratri and Dussehra, especially in Karnataka’s Mysuru Dasara. It symbolises prosperity and festivity, and it's perfect to be enjoyed with ghee or milk. It's often offered as prasad in many households and temples.
The western parts, especially Gujarat and Rajasthan, celebrate Vijayadashami with jalebi and fafda – a sweet and salty pairing considered auspicious. While not a ritual part of celebrations, it is a traditional Dussehra fare, especially after watching Ramlila performances. Moving upwards to Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, jalebi also features alongside chaat and other snacks during the Ramlila fair season, sold by vendors near performance grounds..
The North and Central areas do this differently, and the East does it differently. States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have their puri and aloo sabzi. Whereas Assam and West Bengal have their luchi and aloo dum. Similar ingredients, different fonts. Neither is exclusively tied to Ramlila, but has found its place where devotees relish the puffed puris or luchis with the potato side dish of aloo sabzi or aloo dum. Often sweets accompany this fair, with rosogolla being the norm for Bengal and Assam and jalebi, kheer or laddoo for the other regions.
Talking about sweets, pua (a simpler cousin of malpua) is especially common in Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Bengal. It is mostly associated with Holi in Bihar, where families prepare banana pua (kele ka pua) among other items, but you will find it during Ramlila too. The dish traces back to Vedic times via ‘apupa’ (a cake of grain fried or cooked in ghee), which is considered an ancestral variant of modern pua or malpua. Unlike malpua, pua is often not soaked in sugar syrup but enjoyed as a warm fried sweet – lighter, faster, and suitable for festival‑day cooking among many households.
At Ramlila feasts and grounds, particularly in Delhi, pani puri or gol gappa is one of the most in‑demand chaat items. Stalls at Ram Lila Maidan and Janakpuri Ramlila Committee food zones offer gol gappa along with papdi chaat, aloo tikki, and pakoras. Move over to Bengaluru's Ramlila Ground, you also get a local stylised lip‑smacking golgappas, which are among the staple snack offerings at food stalls. Part of the reason for its popularity at Ramlila is that Gol Gappa is inexpensive, easy to eat while walking around, and fast to prepare in small batches.
Ramlila is a full-fledged community experience, and food is at its very heart. Across India, each region brings its unique culinary touch to the festivities, blending local tradition with festive fervour. From the piping hot khichdi served in massive quantities in Delhi, to jalebi and fafda in Gujarat, or the comforting puri-aloo in Uttar Pradesh and luchi-aloo dum in Bengal, these dishes nourish more than just the stomach – they feed the spirit of celebration.
