Ramakien

Background

The Ramayana reached Southeast Asia through Buddhist missionaries, Indian traders, and scholars who had close economic and cultural ties with Khmer kingdoms such as Funan and Angkor, as well as Srivijaya. The Thai people adopted components of Indianized culture, including the Ramayana, from the Khmer. By the late first millennium, the Ramakien epic was adopted by the Thai. The oldest recordings of the early Sukhothai kingdom, dating from the 13th century, include stories from the Jataka legends, which were told in the shade theater, a shadow-puppet show in a style adopted from Indonesia.

The Thai version was first written down in the 18th century during the Ayutthaya Kingdom, but most editions were lost when Ayutthaya was destroyed by Burmese armies in 1767. The version recognized today was compiled under the supervision of King Rama I between 1799 and 1807, who also wrote parts of it. During his reign, construction began on the Thai Grand Palace in Bangkok, which includes the grounds of Wat Phra Kaew, whose walls are decorated with paintings representing parts of the Ramakien.

King Rama II later adapted his father's edition for khon drama, giving an expanded role to Hanuman and adding a happy ending. The Ramakien of Rama I is considered a masterpiece of Thai literature and is still taught in schools. In 1989, Satyavrat Shastri translated the Ramakien into a Sanskrit epic poem that won eleven national and international awards.

Content

The tales of the Ramakien are similar to those of the Ramayana but are transferred to the topography and culture of Ayutthaya. The avatar of Phra Narai, the Thai incarnation of Vishnu, is reborn as Phra Ram. Key characters include Phra Isuan (Shiva), Phra Phrom (Brahma), Phra Uma (Parvati), Phra Laksami (Lakshmi), and Phra In (Indra). Mali Warat is the god of justice and maternal grandfather of Thotsakan (Ravana).

Phra Athit (Surya) is the divine father of Sukhrip (Sugriva), and Phra Phai (Vayu) is the father of Hanuman. Phra Witsawakam (Vishvakarma) is the artisan god. Phra Ram is the Bodhisatta, son of King Thotsarot (Dasharatha) of Ayutthaya and incarnation of Phra Narai. His wife Nang Sida (Sita) embodies purity and fidelity.

His younger half-brothers are Phra Phrot (Bharata), Phra Lak (Lakshmana), and Phra Satarut (Shatrughna). Thotsakan, king of the rakshasas of Lanka, has ten faces and twenty arms.

Hanuman is the god-king of the apes who supports Phra Ram. Other vanara include Phali Thirat (Vali), Sukhrip, Ongkhot (Angada), and Chomphuphan (Jambavan). Phiphek (Vibhishana) is Thotsakan's estranged brother who aids Phra Ram.