the differences between valmiki's ramayana and the …

OF KING RAMA I OF

THAILAND (1782-1809)

BY PROFESSOR MC SUBHADRADIS DISKUL

The story of the Ramayana has been very popular in Thailand;

there are many versions of the story. It is pronounced in Thai as

Ramakian, which probably derives from the word Ramakirti in

Sanskrit. The word Rama existed already during the Sukhothai

period (about 1250-1450 AD). The story of the Ramayana was

referred to several times in Thai literature during the Ayutthaya

period (1350-1767 AD) but the extant manuscripts for dance

drama exist only from the Thonburi period (1767-1782 AD).

SPAFA JOURNAL VOLUME TWO NUMBER TWO 2 7

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

VALMIKI'S RAMAYANA AND

THE THAI VERSION OF

RAMAYAN

( R A M A K I R T I )

King Rama I of the Bangkok period(1782-1809) composed the wholestory of the Ramayana for a dancedrama but it was King Rama II, hisson (1809-1824), who composed themost popular Ramayana story fordancing. King Mongkut or Rama IV(1851-1868) wrote certain episodes ofthe Ramayana and it was KingVajiravudh or Rama VI (1910-1925)who was very much interested inSanskrit literature and composedcertain episodes of the Ramayana fordancing. The king also wrote a bookentitled "The Origin of theRamakian," which will be referred toseveral times in this article.

It is believed by Thai scholars that inIndia, even before the time ofValmiki, the story of the Ramayanahad been known and related bymouth. It was Valmiki whocomposed the story in Sanskrit verse,so in Southeast Asia the knowledgeof the Ramayana would have comefrom both the tales of the Ramayanarelated in India as well as thatcomposed by Valmiki. The tales ofthe Ramayana would have comefrom southern India as well as fromBengal in the northeast.

Hereupon the differences betweenValmiki's Ramayana and that of KingRama I of Thailand or Siam will bedescribed.

The Ramayana of King Rama I wascomposed for a dance drama, unlikethat of Valmiki which was written asa sacred text. The beginning of thestories are not the same.

The Ramayana of King Rama I begins with an eulogy of the kingand of his intention to compose this

dance drama. It begins withHirantayaksha, who rolls the earthand at the end is killed by Vishnu,who transforms himself into a pig.The story continues with thefoundation of the towns ofAyutthaya and Langka. The story ofTriburam is recounted, to his deathby Siva. The account continues withNontok or Nandaka, who is a yaksha and who is later on killed byVishnu. Nontok reincarnates asRavana. His four brothers and onesister are born: Kumbhakarna,Piphek, Tutkhon, Trisien andSammanakkha. The birth of Pali,Sukhrip and Hanuman are thenrecounted to where Pali takesSukhrip's wife, who was given tohim by Siva. The story of Montho,who is originally a frog, is thenrelated. Ravana becomes the king ofLangka. He helps Siva to straightenMount Kailasa and receivesMontho, who is living with Uma,as a reward, but later on Palisnatches her away when Ravana isflying over Pali's town of Khidkhin.Ravana, however, with the help ofhis hermit-teacher obtains her back.Pali's son with Montho is born andhis name is Ongkhot. Ravanaperforms a ceremony, taking hisheart out of his body and thereforebecomes immortal. He then beginsto fight with the gods. He sends hisson, Ronapak, to fight against Indra.The latter loses the war. Later onRonapak is renamed Indrajit. Thestory continues with the birth of a bull named Torapa and the birth ofhis son Torapi. Another demon,Maiyarab, also performs theceremony of taking his heart outfrom his body.

The tale then reverses to Rama's

father, Tosaroth, who has a thirdwife named Kaikesi. She helps himin his battle against a demon, soTosaroth grants her a promise ofanything she wants from him.

Some of these short stories figure inthe Uttara-kanda, which is the lastsection of Valmiki's Ramayana andare believed to have been added lateron. These short stories relate, such asthe origin of the family of thedemons, but sometimes the nameshave been changed from Sanskritinto Thai, for instance Kuvera hasbeen altered into Kuperan. Ravana,Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana(Piphek), the three brothers, allreceive a boon from Brahma, notfrom Siva as in the Thai version. Thename Mandodara, wife of Ravana,has been changed into Monthothevi.Ravana is usually called Tosakan (tennecks). For the ceremony of takingthe heart out from the body andkeeping it in a box, in the ThaiRamayana it is performed byRavana's hermit-teachers but inValmiki's it is probably a mantrataught by Brahma to Ravana in orderto escape a threat on his life. InValmiki's Ramayana the originalname of Indrajit, Ravana's famousson, is Meghanada, not Ronapak asin the Thai version. King Rama VIthought that the way Ravana tries tokill Montho's son, bom from Pah, inthe Thai version might have comefrom other sources such as from oneof the Puranas.

As for the origin of the family ofmonkeys, it is different fromValmiki's account of the birth ofHanuman, Bali (Pali) and Sugriva(Sukhrip). However, the birth ofHanuman in the Thai version is

2 8 SPAFA JOURNAL VOLUME TWO NUMBER TWO

described in detail; the name ofHanuman's mother is different, butthe story in general is very muchalike.

1. Now the story of the ThaiRamayana corresponding to the Bala-kanda of Valmiki will be described.Tosaroth, Rama's father, performs a ceremony to ask for children. Vishnuis asked to be reincarnated as Rama.In the ceremony divine rice iscooked. Montho, Ravana's wife,smells its fragrance and would liketo taste it, so Ravana has a femaledemon named Kakanasun to fly afterthe smell and steal one part of thedivine rice. The three wives ofTosaroth partake of the rest. Fourboys: Rama, Lakshmana, Prot andSatrud are born. Montho gives birthto a girl, Sita, but Piphek predictsthat in the future she will destroyLangka; she is left adrift inside a bowl along the river until she isfound by Chanok, a hermit king,who raises her. One day, the fourboys of Tosaroth play together,shooting earth bullets. Rama shootsat a dwarf-girl and she promises tohave revenge upon him. Prot andSatrud then go to live in the town ofProfs maternal grandfather.

Ravana orders Kakanasun and herattendants to trouble the hermits'dwellings; the hermits Vasit andVisvamit ask Rama and Lakshmanato come and help them. They killKakanasun and Savahu, her son, butanother son Marich flees to Langka.

Chanok (Janaka), who found Sitawhen he was a hermit, retires fromseclusion and goes back with Sita tohis town, Mithila. He then arranges a marriage for Sita to any man who

can lift a sacred bow. Rama andLakshmana go to Mithila, and Ramais able to lift it. The marriage thentakes place with Tosaroth, Prot,Satrud and Indra, the god, aswitnesses. On coming back homethey encounter Ramasun, a demon,who challenges Rama to fight; but atthe end the demon is defeated.

The story then reverses to thebuffalo, Torapa, who is killed by hisson, Torapi. Torapi then challengesPali and is destroyed by the latter.Sukhrip, Pali's younger brother,thinks that Pali has died, so he islater banished from the town by Pali.The birth of Mangkornkan, anotherson of Ravana, is recounted.

In the Thai Ramayana, sometimes thetown of Ayutthaya (Ayodhya) isreferred to as Dvaravati. Sumantra, a charioteer of Tosaroth, is calledSumantan. The story of Kakanasun,who stole the portion of divine ricefor Montho, does not figure inValmiki's story. This version mighthave come from one of the Puranas.The names of the four sons ofTosaroth (Dasaratha in Sanskrit) alsovary from Valmiki's; except forRama. Prot comes from Bharata, Lakor Lakshana from Lakshmana andSatrud from Satrughna. Piphek,Ravana's younger brother, alsoderives from Vibhishana. Marich, a demon, is from Maricha; Savaha, hisbrother, from Subahu and theirmother Kakanasun from Taraka.

In the Thai Ramayana there is alsothe story of a female named Ahalya,wife of the Rishi Gautama; but inThai her name is changed into Kala-achana. In the Thai text it is relatedthat she has a son with Indra, that is

Pali (Bali), and another with the sun(Surya), that is Sugriva or Sukhrip.She also has a daughter with herhusband, Gautama, named Savaha.The daughter is cursed by themother because she informs herfather about the unfaithful behaviourof her mother. Savaha, according tothe Thai text, is the mother ofHanuman whose father is the God ofWind, Vayu.

In Valmiki's Ramayana the four sonsof Tosaroth are married after thelifting of the sacred bow, but in theThai version only Rama is married.On their way back from Mithila toAyutthaya, in the Thai version, theymeet Ramasun (Ramasura), but inValmiki's they encounter Parasurama,who is also regarded as one of theincarnations of Vishnu. Parasurama isdefeated and presents the bow ofSiva to Rama.

2. Ayodhya-kanda. In this Thaisection Tosaroth prepares to crownRama as king of Ayutthaya, but a dwarf woman who would like tohave revenge on Rama asks Kaikesi,the third wife of Tosaroth, to ask fora promise which Tosaroth hadalready once granted her. Kaikesithen asks that Rama should go outand live in a forest for fourteen yearsand let her son, Prot, rule the towninstead. Tosaroth has to keep hispromise so Rama, Lakshmana andSita become hermits and leave thetown of Ayutthaya. Tosaroth thenforbids Kaikesi and her son, Prot, tocome to his cremation ceremony afterhis death; and afterwards he dies ofsorrow. When Prot comes toAyutthaya, he is so angry hethreatens to kill his mother. Thethree wives of Tosaroth, Prot and


Satrud then go to invite Rama tocome back, but Rama refuses. Thethree of them continue their journey.

After Rama leaves the town with hiswife and younger brother, he meetsGuha near the Ganges River. Thisname is spelt Khukhan in Thai. InValmiki's Ramayana it is not saidthat Kaikesi and Prot are forbiddento cremate Tosaroth's remains, but onthe contrary it is Prot who arrangesthe cremation ceremony. So thisepisode of forbidding Kaikesi andProt to join in the cremationceremony is probably added in theThai version. In Valmiki's story, bothProt and Satrud also become hermits,though Prot, at the same time acts asa regent for Rama.

3. Aranya-kanda. Rama kills Pirap, a demon, who tries to abduct Sita.Lakshmana also kills another demon,Kumbhakasa.

Ravana goes into the jungle. Hisyounger sister's husband, Jiuha,protects the town for him. He putsout his tongue around the town toprotect it. When Ravana comes backhe cannot see the town and hethrows a discus to kill Jiuha.Sammanakkha, Ravana's sister, is sosad, she goes into the jungle andfalls in love with Rama. She ispunished by Lakshmana, so she goesto inform one of her brothers Khon(Khara in Sanskrit). Rama kills Khon.Another brother Tut (Dushana)appears, and is killed. So Trisian(Trisira) follows and loses his life infighting with Rama. Sammanakkhathen goes to Langka and praisesSita's beauty to Ravana until thelatter falls in love with her. He thenasks Marich to disguise as a golden

deer to lure Rama away. Ravanathen abducts Sita, fights with Sadayu,a bird, and brings Sita to his gardenin Langka. Rama follows, findsSadayu, and also in his search meetsKumpol (Kumbala) and Asmukhi.Both of them are killed and punishedby Rama and Lakshamana. Kumpol,however, goes back to heaven, as hiscurse is ended.

Viradha is called Pirap in Thai. Asfor the younger sister of Ravana, inThai she is called Sammanakkha,from Sanskrit Surpanakha. In thisversion Trisian (Trisira) is only a general, not her brother. Sadayu is inSanskrit Jatayu; the same forAsmukhi, the name of a femaledemon, is in Sanskrit Ayomukhi.Kumpol is in reality Kabandha.

4. Kishkindhya-kanda. In this sectionRama finds Hanuman, who becomeshis ally. Hanuman then introducesSukhrip, and the latter asks Rama tokill Pali, which Rama accepts and atlast kills him. Then Ongkhot(Angada) and Chompupan, anothermonkey, become Rama's allies.Sukhrip is crowned as the king ofthe town of Khidkhin (Kishkindhya).Rama has another ally,Mahachomphu and he sendsHanuman, Ongkhot and Chompupanto Lanka. Ongkhot kills anotherdemon, Pak-lan. Hanuman finds twogirls named Busmali andSuvarnamali who show them theway to Langka as well as otherhermits and a bird named Sampati, a younger brother of Sadayu.Hanuman then flies alone to Lanka.In Valmiki's Ramayana there are twoepisodes of Pali fighting with a buffalo. First he fights againstTuntupi, and the second time against

Mayavi, but in the Thai version theymix the stories together into only oneepisode. Rama, in order to showSukhrip his strength, shoots an arrowthrough seven trees and a mountain.This display of strength does notappear in the Thai version. Also inthe Thai version Hanuman getsBusmali as his wife. Here it shouldbe explained that though in Valmiki'stext, Hanuman observes celibacy, inthe Thai version he is a great lover,probably because of the Thaiadaptations.

5. Sundara-kanda. Hanuman, onflying to Langka, has to fight againsta female demon of the ocean. Hethen goes on to visit the hermitNarada and later kills the protectordemon of Langka. He goes into thetown of Langka, finds Sita in a garden and rescues her from hangingherself. Then Hanuman destroys thegarden in the Langka palace andkills Sahaskumara, Ravana's son.Indrajit is called upon and catchesHanuman. Hanuman asks to beburnt alive and he burns down thewhole town of Langka. Narada helpshim to extinguish the fire on his tailby putting it in Hanuman's ownmouth. Ravana has a new townconstructed by the gods. Hanuman,Ongkhot and Chompupan come backto Rama. At first, Rama is angry forwhat Hanuman has done, buteventually pardons him.

In Valmiki's Ramayana, angels wouldlike to try Hanuman's power, so theyask Surasa, the mother of all thenaga, to stop him, but Hanuman canwin her and is allowed to leave. Thisstory of Surasa does not figure in theThai version. The encounter with thehermit Narada also does not appear


in the Sanskrit text. The name ofSahaskumara is in SanskritAkshakumara and is only oneperson, but in the Thai version theyare composed of 1,000. In the Thaiversion, before Hanuman is burntalive, Ravana tries to kill him inmany ways but is unsuccessful. Thisepisode does not exist in the Sanskrittext. Hanuman extinguishes the fireon his tail in the ocean, not byNarada's suggestion as in the Thaiversion.

6. Yuddha-kanda. Rama's armymoves to Langka. Ravana has a baddream and Piphek suggests to hisbrother to return Sita. Ravana is soangry that he banishes Piphek fromthe town of Langka. So Piphekcomes to live with Rama and wouldlike to see the strength of Rama'sarmy. After Ravana hears the noiseof Rama's soldiers, he sends one ofhis military, Sukrasarn, to spy onthem. Sukrasarn is caught, punishedand sent back. Ravana thentransforms himself as a hermit andtries to deprive Piphek from Rama'sside, but in vain.

Ravana then asks Benyakai, Piphek'sdaughter, to transform herself as Sita,and floats to Rama's camp. This trickhowever is found out and Hanuman,in bringing Benyakai back to Langka,has her as his wife.

Then follows the story of Ramabuilding a causeway to Langka.Ravana asks one of his daughters, a mermaid, to destroy the causeway.Hanuman catches her and has her ashis wife. The son of Hanuman andthis mermaid is adopted by anotherdemon, Maiyarap. Rama's army thenmarches on to the town of Langka.

Indra orders Matuli (Matali inSanskrit), his charioteer, to bringdown his chariot for Rama. Ramathen sends Ongkhot as a messengerto Ravana to ask for Sita back, but isunsuccessful. Ravana has a parasolset up so that Rama's army cannotsee the sun, but Sukhrip destroys theparasol.

Ravana asks Maiyarap to come forhelp. He abducts Rama butHanuman kills Maiyarap and bringsRama back. Ravana asks forKumbhakarna's help. The latter cancatch Sukhrip but Hanuman canrescue him. Kumbhakarna tries toperform a ceremony to sharpen hissacred lance, which is calledMokkhasakti, but Hanuman andOngkhot destroy the ceremony.Kumbhakarna comes out to thebattlefield for the second time. Hecan injure Lakshmana with his lance,but Hanuman can find the medicineto cure him. Kumbhakarna then triesto make himself as a dam so thatRama's army cannot get water, butHanuman drives him back intoLangka. Kumbhakarna then comesout for the last time and is killed byRama.

Ravana then calls on Indrajit. For thefirst battle with Lakshmana, nobodywins. Mongkornkan, a nephew ofRavana, comes out to fight and iskilled by Rama. Indrajit then comesout to the battlefield again andshoots an arrow in the form of a naga to entwine Lakshmana. Ramashoots an arrow to call down a garuda who drives away the naga.Indrajit then disguises himself asIndra and shoots an arrow atLakshmana. Hanuman is so angry,he flies up to kill the pseudo-

Airavata. Rama comes out to thebattlefield and faints from sorrow. SoRavana sends Sita on a flying vehicleto see that both Rama andLakshmana have already died buther female demon attendant, Piphek'swife, takes pity upon her andinforms her that the flying vehiclewill not move if it is ridden by a widow. Later on Rama recovers andHanuman can bring medicine to cureLakshmana. Indrajit then comes outagain with a prisoner whotransforms himself as Sita. Hebeheads the prisoner so that Rama'sarmy will believe that Sita has beenkilled, but this trick is alsodiscovered. Indrajit comes out for thelast time and is killed by Lakshmana.

Ravana then comes out to thebattlefield for the first time. Indraagain asks Visvakarma to bringdown to Rama a chariot namedVejaiyanta. This time the result of thefighting is even. Other two demons,Sahasdeja and Mulapalam come tohelp Ravana. Lakshmana killsMulapalam and Hanuman killsSahasdeja. Another demon, Saeng-atit,is called upon. He is also killed byRama. Ravana comes out for thesecond time and the result of thefighting is again, even. Two otherdemons come to help Ravana,Satalung and Trimek. Rama killsSatalung and Trimek is killed byHanuman.

Ravana then tries to perform a ceremony but it is destroyed bySukhrip, Nilanon and Hanuman.Satthasun and Virunchambang cometo help Ravana. Hanuman andOngkhot kill Satthasun.Virunchambang is also killed byHanuman, who has during the pursuit,

SPAFA JOURNAL VOLUME TWO NUMBER TWO 31

another wife, Vanarin.

Ravana asks Malivaraj, hisgrandfather, who can utter sacredwords, to come down from heavenand judge the case between him andRama. Malivaraj, however, afterhaving heard many witnesses whowent to Rama's wedding with Sita,sides with Rama and orders Ravanato return Sita. Ravana refuses andMalivaraj then curses him to lose thebattle.

Ravana then performs anotherceremony, which is destroyed byPali, according to the command ofSiva. Ravana comes out to thebattlefield again and can throw hislance, Kabilapat, to Lakshmana. Thelatter however is cured by Hanumanthrough the help of Piphek. Incuring, Hanuman has to go toLangka to fetch a grinding stonewhich Ravana uses as a pillow. Heties Ravana's hair to that of Montho.

Another demon, Tapanasun, comesto help Ravana. He is killed byRama. Ravana's two sons,Tasakhirivan and Tasakhirithorncome out to fight with Lakshmana.They are both killed. During thattime, Montho performs a ceremonyto get a nectar to revive all the deaddemons lost in the battles. Shesucceeds, but later on the ceremonyis destroyed by Hanuman, Nilanonand Chompupan.

Ravana comes out again, but hecannot be killed because his heart isoutside his body. It is in a boxguarded by the hermit Goputra.Hanuman then asks the hermitGoputra to take him to Ravanabecause he does not want to stay on

Rama's side anymore. Ongkhotafterwards steals the box containingRavana's heart. Ravana acceptsHanuman as his adopted son.Hanuman then goes out to have a mock battle against Lakshmana. Lateron, Ravana discovers the plot, so forhis last battle he transforms himselfinto Indra but is killed by Rama, byhaving his heart crushed byHanuman at the same time. Piphekthen invites Sita to come from thegarden and meet Rama, but she asksfirst to walk on fire, to prove herfaithfulness to Rama.

Piphek, who later on becomes theking of Langka, has a cremationceremony arranged for the remainsof Ravana. Asakan, another demon,comes to fight and is killed by Rama.Rama then begins his journey backto Ayutthaya with Sita, Lakshmanaand the monkey soldiers. Hedestroys the causeway he built toLangka. Banlaikan, another son ofRavana, follows the army but iskilled by Hanuman. The armyarrives at the town of Khidkhin, thetown of Sukhrip. Rama sendsHanuman and Kukhan to Ayutthaya.They stop Prot and Satrud fromburning themselves as Rama has notyet come back after fourteen years.Then Rama is crowned as the kingof Ayutthaya.

This section is the longest of thewhole story. In the Thai text, afterHanuman comes back from Langkaafter he presents Rama's ring to Sita,he is rewarded a bathing cloth byRama. This episode does not figurein Valmiki's version. The mountainMehendragiri where Rama's armystops on the coast of the ocean infront of Langka is called Hemtiran in

Thai. Kumbhakarna in Thai meansthe "ear as big as a pot." In Valmiki'sRamayana, Piphek is quite brave, butin the Thai text he is rathercowardly. When he is banished fromLangka, according to Valmiki, he isaccompanied by four soldiers, but inthe Thai version he leaves alone. Asfor the name of his wife, in the Thailanguage, it is Trichada (Trijata) notSarama in Sanskrit. For the name ofhis daughter, it is Benyakai in Thai,instead of Nanda.

One can perceive that in Valmiki'stext, the three episodes in the ThaiRamayana are lacking: (1) whenBenyakai, Piphek's daughter,transforms herself as Sita and floatsto Rama's camp; (2) Hanumanquarrels with Nilapat during theconstruction of the causeway toLangka and (3) the story of themermaid, Suvarnamaccha, andHanuman.

As for Suka and Sarana, two soldiersof Ravana, who come to spy onRama's soldiers, in the Thai text theyare mixed into a single person namedSukasarn and their appearances areshortened into one episode only.

The story of Malivaraj in the Thai textmight have come from Maliyavan,who is the maternal grandfather ofRavana. He also suggests to Ravana toreturn Sita, but Ravana would notlisten to him.

For the episodes of breaking Ravana'sparasol and sending Ongkhot as a messenger, in the Thai Ramayana it isreversed in time from that of Valmiki

The three stories of Maiyarapabducting Rama, Kumbhakarna


making himself as a dam andperforming the ceremony of sharpinghis lance, Mokkhasakti, never appearin the Sanskrit text.

When Indrajit shoots an arrow asnaga, in the Sanskrit text both Ramaand Lakshmana are intertwined by a noose and the garuda comes to helpby himself. But in the Thai storyonly Lakshmana is entwined by thenoose and Rama shoots an arrow tocall down the garuda.

Mangkornkan, Ravana's nephew, iscalled in Sanskrit Mangkaraksha.Saeng-atit, another demon, neverappears in the Sanskrit text. Neitherdo Mulapalam and Sahasdeja, theother two demons.

Ravana is killed, according to theSanskrit text, because the hermitAgastayamuni reveals to Rama a mantra called "the heart of the sun(Adiyaharidaya)." This might betransformed into a box containing theheart of Ravana in the Thai version.

So far, we have followed King RamaVI's comparison between Valmiki'sRamayana and the Thai version ofKing Rama I. Another Thai scholar,Phya Anuman Rajadhon, who hasdone the same research, surmisesthat probably the Thai Ramayanaderives from the Tamil Ramayanaboth directly and indirectly. He cites,for example, the story of Maiyarapwhich does not appear in Sanskritbut exists in Tamil, calledMayiliravana; and there are manyTamil names in the Thai version, forexample Asuramayan, Sumantan;Paulastayan, Kurepan, Sudhamantan,Kukan or Khukhan and Anomatan.Mulapalam according to an

explanation of a brahmin in Thailand,is not a person but an army ofRavana's in the Tamil version.

7. Uttara-kanda. As has been said thissection is a later addition and full ofmany anecdotes. Here the writer willdescribe first the story of the Thaiversion of King Rama I.

After Rama becomes king ofAyutthaya, he rewards his brothersand many of his soldiers. A town isbuilt for Hanuman to rule. A demonnamed Mahabal comes to attackLangka, which is ruled by Piphek.Rama sends Hanuman to help himand Hanuman kills Mahabal.Montho, a former wife of Ravana,gives birth to a boy and so doesBenyakai, Hanuman's wife. Hanumanlater on becomes a hermit. Piphekmistakes Montho's son as his realchild, but one day after he grows upthe son knows that Ravana, who waskilled by Rama, is his father, so hegoes to see Chakravatti, anotherpowerful demon, for help.Chakravatti's army comes to besiegeLangka and seizes Piphek.Hanuman's son with Benyakai thentries to find his father. Hanumanleaves his hermitage and informsRama of what has happened inLangka. At this time begins therepetition of what Rama andLakshmana have done, but theheroes are changed into Prot andSatrud, with Nilapat as a chiefmonkey soldier. They kill Chakravattias well as his friend Vaital. Ramaperforms the ceremony of cutting themermaid's tail from the son ofHanuman, born from a mermaidwho is the daughter of Ravana.

A female demon named Adul

transforms herself into Sita's lady-in-waiting and asks Sita to draw a portrait of Ravana. When Ramafinds the portrait he is very angrywith Sita and asks Lakshmana totake Sita out into the jungle andkill her. Lakshmana cannot beheadher because Sita is still faithful toRama, so he lets her go to live witha hermit. Sita later on gives birth toa son. One day she takes him outto a river. The hermit cannot findSita's son so he performs a ceremony to create another boy andboth of them become playmates.One is named Mongkut and theother one Lob. They both learnabout fighting and magic formulaefrom the hermit. Rama performs a ceremony called Asvamedha, byletting lose a horse followed by anarmy which is led by Prot, Satrudand Hanuman. Mongkut and Lobcatch the horse and ride it. Theyfight with Prot, Satrud andHanuman, not knowing oneanother. Mongkut is caught andbrought back to Ayutthaya but Lobcomes to rescue him and theyreturn to the hermitage whereresides Sita. Rama follows andfights with his two children. Lateron he realizes that they are hissons. Sita will not come back tolive with Rama but let the twochildren go to live with their father.Rama then plays a trick by hidinghimself inside an urn and ordersHanuman to inform Sita that he isdead. Sita comes back to Ayutthayaand when she finds out that Ramais still alive she makes a wish to godown and stay in the nether world.The wish is fulfilled.

Rama calls Piphek to Ayutthaya forconsultation and Piphek advises that


he should go out to the jungle againfor one year. So Rama, Lakshmana,Hanuman and the monkey soldiersleave Ayutthaya and kill many demonsalong their journey. After one year theycome back to Ayutthaya and Sivaarranges a second wedding for Ramaand Sita.

The last anecdote concerns the kingof Gandharva who attacks andcaptures the town of Prot's maternalgrandfather, Kaiyakesha. Rama ordersProt, Satrud and his two sons tobring an army to fight them. In thislast story, Mongkut, Rama's first son,becomes a hero. At last Rama's armycan take back the town.

At the end of the story there is aneulogy for Rama and also a warning tothe Thai public that this story is writtenin Hinduism, not in Buddhism. Thedate for the beginning of thecomposition of the Thai Ramayana inthe reign of King Rama I is given: 1797AD.

In the Thai Ramayana, the origins ofRama, Ravana and the family of themonkeys are related at the beginningof the story. Only the banishment ofSita from the town of Ayutthaya, thebirth of Mongkut (in Sanskrit Kusa)

and Lob (in Sanskrit Lava) and thefighting of Prot and Satrud are keptat the end.

The story of the banishment of Sitafrom Ayutthaya is totally differentfrom that of Valmiki; and the war ofonly Satrud in Valmiki's is totallychanged into the war of Prot andSatrud, with Nilapat replacingHanuman. The revolt against Piphekin Langka by Ravana's son does notexist in Valmiki's. The end of theThai Ramayana with Rama'sceremony of Asvamedha is like theRamayana of the Anganikaya versionof Bengal, but the story of Ramahiding in an urn does not appear inany of the Indian texts.

For the war with the king of theGandharva in Valmiki's Ramayana, thegeneral of the army is Prot and histwo sons, but in the Thai version it isProt, Satrud and Rama's two sons. Thestory of Rama and Lakshmana goingup to heaven at the end does notappear in the Thai version, which tellsonly of the happiness of Rama andSita.

One can therefore surmise that theThai version of the Ramayanacomposed in the reign of King Rama

I of Thailand (Siam) from 1797 AD isbased on the following sources:

1. Valmiki's Ramayana in Sanskritboth from the Uttaranikaya andmostly from the Anganikaya ofBengal.

2. The Tamil versions.

3. Vishnupurana.

4. Hartumannataka.

5. Tullidasa's Hindi Ramayana.

6. The Thai former versions of theRamayana which have mostly beenlost and the Thai adaptations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. King Rama VI (Vajiravudh): Originof the Ramakian (Ramayana) (in:Thai language, 1913 AD).

2. Phya Anuman Rajadhon: Researchon the Ramakian (in Thai, 1952 AD).

3. King Rama I: Ramakian, 4 volumes (in Thai), Khlangvidya, 1964AD.


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