Ayodhya Ki Ramleela, films based on Ramayan and other Navratri special programming on Doordarshan were a massive hit as viewership on DD National rose to as high as 421 per cent for these special programmes, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on Monday (25 October).

The ministry said that the daily live coverage of Dussehra Mahotsav and Aarti from various locations across the country, Ramleela, Ramayan films and special religious shows like Ram Charitramanas "drove the viewership on Doordarshan to remarkable heights".

"During Navratri, thanks to the special shows, Doordarshan’s reach remained constantly high in comparison to previous weeks. Some days reach were as high as 139 per cent," the ministry said in a statement.

"Viewers’ time spent watching Doordarshan also remained high throughout this period. A total of 67 hours of special programming dedicated to Navratri celebrations was aired on DD National for this period of 10 holy days, with daily average of 6.7 hours," it added.

Highlighting that the coverage of the nine-day long Navratri festival on the national broadcaster was "inclusive", the ministry said that the Navratri coverage on Doordarshan spanned across regions in the country, from Kumkuma Puja and Alankaram of Kanaka Durga Devi in Vijayawada to Shri Venkateswara Swamy Navratri Brahmotsavams in Tirupati to Aarti of Jhandewalan and Chattarpur Mandir in Delhi to Mahalaya in Kolkata.