For the first time in 235 years, Ramlila at Ramnagar was put on hold for a day after four actors playing the characters of Lord Ram, Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughan were admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri government hospital with symptoms of diarrhoea.

The 45-day-long Ramnagar Ramlila was recognised as an intangible world cultural heritage by Unesco in 2005.

On Wednesday, the episode of Phulwari could not be performed after an outbreak of diarrhoea in Malahi Tola, where the team was camping at a dharamshala. Following improvement in the condition of the boy playing Laxman, the episode was to be staged on Thursday but could start only three hours after the scheduled time of the famous Ramlila, which sees the entire city turn into an openair set and involves the audience movement with the actors to different locations, over a period of 31 days.