Music and Time Annotation << Back Games of the Gods, or Traditions of the Theater of Raslila in North India T.V. Kartashova The article is devoted to the religious mystery drama of the cast that prevails in North India. Its traditions are closely connected with the temple culture. Ancient predecessors raslila included the initial dance (ras) and one-act play (lila), narrating about Krishna, and traditionally played out in the courtyard of the temple. In the 16th century, Narayana Bhatta, who created the races of the mandala (actor's corpses, consisting of adults and children of the Brahman caste), acquired its present form. Raslila is a synthesis of music (it includes different genres – from classical to traditional songs), poetry, dance and acting. Raslila consists of a vocalchoreographic part (ras) and a dramatic action – lila ("game"), based on an episode from the life of the god Krishna. Especially bright and varied ritual theater was distributed in Braja (Uttar Pradesh). Keywords: North India, raslila, Krishna, Radha, swami, nitya ras, lila, janki. Contacts: E-mail: arun-rani@yandex.ru Pp. 15-19.