Ahmed, Rezuf, Paul Brmble, Akhila Kovuri, Alesandro Sia, Dean Yang. 2025. ‘Ancient epic in the television era: Mass media, identity, and the rise of Hindu nationalism in India.’ National Bureau of Economic ResearchCambridge, MA. Working Paper 33417.

TeaThey broadcast Ramayana The television series took place in a significant moment in India’s media and cultural history. It aired from January 1987 to July 1988. This was a time when the television signal reception was expanding but still limited. Therefore, for adequate mass of population, his first performance for this novel medium was the television adaptation of ancient Hindu epic. Combined with a giant audience and religious dimension, it caused the serial an external impact on its audience.

Exploitation of this aspect- “To identify the effects due to” geographical and more time variation in television signal strength “-“-” Ramayana The authors of the TV show, the author of this question, question: “Can we come into contact with religious narratives through media size cultural identity and in return, can the political landscape affect?”

There is already a body of research which says ‘yes’. For example, it is not a matter of debate Ramayana Broadcasting assisted the rise of Hindu nationalism. Did this. This study, “by examining the long -term effects of” Ramayana Disseminated on cultural, social and political consequences, “tries to bridge the” many interconnected varieties “of this literature. Its unique functioning rests to take advantage of the change in the strength of TV signals across India, how” Exposure ” Track to Ramayana The serial affected cultural criteria, communal relations and voting behavior in the years that followed.

How did the show affect cultural behavior

The paper offers three major conclusions. First, the areas with “High Ramayana Exposure (high TV signal strength in 1987) experienced significant changes in cultural practices, indicating to strengthen religious identity.” This study tracked two cultural practices-naming new births, and both diets in lower caste houses revealed significant changes. “Hindu parents became more likely to give a normal Hindu name to their newborn sons, and increased adherence to conservative Hindu dietary practices (adequate increase in vegetarian) in low-caste homes.”

Second, high -risk area Ramayana The “short-term” increase in Hindu-Muslim communal violence was observed through 1992.

And finally, the study found a “long -term” effect (until 2000) on electoral results, increasing the possibility of winning assembly elections in regions with the Hindu nationalist BJP which were more. Ramayana exposure.

In this context, a question comes automatically: how do we know what is responsible for the effect Ramayana Exposure is also not the result of the Ram Janmabhumi movement, which was getting steam around the same time? The author distinguishes the ‘Ramayana effect’ to measure closeness to the known journey rational rallies known as a control variable “Ram Rath Yatra (held in 1990). By doing this, he found that” the estimated effect of the exposure ” Ramayana With the commencement of Ram Rath Yatra, starting in 1987, there is no important event in advancing the Ram Janmabhumi movement. ,

Auxilize

Pointing out RamayanaIntroduction to introduction, a TV show was never held in India with a religious subject, notes that paper notes Ramayana The series “represented a step-work in religious TV materials”. To document this quantitatively, the authors “collecting data on all 176 television serials aired on the Indian public network since 1980”. There were zero religious shows before 1987. This was another factor that was amplified RamayanaThe unique effect, given that its audience’s number was also “unprecedented in India”, in which 80 million people tuned to watch each episode.

At his peak, more than 100 million spectators were watching Ramayana Along with this, at a time when there were only 30 million television sets in India. It is explained by the phenomenon of “community views”, in which people gather in large groups around the same television sets, often in public places or in the homes of neighbors that have TV owners “. As a result, “First, all Hindus across the country saw and heard the same thing at the same time”. The serial “introduced a collective imperative in Hinduism” and “provided an integrated story that crosses local differences”.

In a way, a large -scale spread of a standardized story of Rama, an incarnation of Hindu God Vishnu, could not come to a better time for advocates of Hindutva, as it regularly and regionally to prime a diverse Hindu population Help, which was brought to the regional and regional and regional population. The linguistic variations of epic for the united ideology of the Ram Janmabhumi movement. Interestingly, as the paper underlines, the political impact of the chain was unexpectedly unexpected by the government. “At the time of broadcast, the National Government was led by the Congress Party’s leadership and not the BJP” and the primary inspiration for the broadcast Ramayana Advertising revenue for the state -owned television network was to increase. In fact, the show’s producer Ramanand Sagar had to struggle with great doubt to the authorities and lobby to approval the show for broadcasting.

Based on his findings, which strengthened the Hindu religious identity, as a change to the popular Hindu names for new births, switching on vegetarianism and a change in long-term political preferences, authors say that authors say That “people can do the content of media only far -reaching consequences beyond entertainment, shaping the cultural and political scenario of a nation for a possible years.”

This empirical study is a significant intervention at a time when the Indian media scenario, especially news television, is marked by a distorted incident of communal rhetoric for millions of people on a daily basis. It also opens the way for future inquiries.

For example, given the growing trend of major promotion films coming from Bollywood, how does a certain “story structure, character depiction and symbolic imagination activate a particular social identity?” And how to consume – see such content as a “communal experience” in a cinema hall or by individual – affects its impact on beliefs and group identity? Such investigations can illuminate the mechanisms through which continuous media risk for specialized cultural and religious materials shapes personal identity and political alignment.

As the paper conclusion, the story of Ramayana broadcasting serves as a powerful reminder of the responsibility that comes with the power to shape the stories and, in detail, with the cultural and political future of a nation. “