The Reamker- Different perspectives of a familiar story

Thailand and Cambodia, in every temple – even the Buddhist ones, you’ll see pictures of the Reamker (Ramakien in Thai) – the South- East Asian version of the Ramayana. In Cambodian, and Thai classical dance (khon), puppet shows, paintings, in ruined cities and in gold leaf covered temples, there are references to the story. It is in fact, the national epic of Thailand.

The story has less of a religious tone. While Rama is still acknowledged as an avatar of Vishnu, the character that leaps out, captivating your attention is Hanuman. Unmistakable in his mask, only men are allowed to play the him. He’s not Hanuman as we in India know him -  celibate and pious – this Hanuman is a charmer, a romancer, with three wives, and a number of girlfriends.

A favorite story – a dance that I saw performed in both Cambodia and Thailand was of Hanuman and the mermaid. The merpeople carry away the stones for the bridge to Lanka. Hanuman investigates, and finds a beautiful mermaid – Suvarnamaccha – in some stories, actually Ravana’s daughter. He courts her and wins her, and she agrees not to destroy the bridge, and so the army moves on to Lanka.

Like the monkeys of Thailand, Hanuman is everywhere, even where we would not expect to see him; at Suvarnabhumi airport, a large statue, where he’s on the side of the devas, churning the ocean of milk, and the same scene again, at Angkor Wat, in a huge carved mural, not to be missed, right at the back of the temple.

Back in San Fransisco, there is an exhibition in the Asian Art Museum on the Ramayana and its influence across Asia. After another Cambodian dance performance there, I asked the dancer why the story of Hanuman and the mermaid was so popular. “Its how the people make the story their own” she said. The myth, having travelled across the world, has touched people through the centuries, and itself is changed in its turn.