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Detail of men and boy leading two buffaloes (Thai Ramayana mural)

About this photograph

Creator
Margery H. Freeman
Date created
Unknown
Location
Bangkok, Thailand
License
This photograph copyright ©2006. Terms of use

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Detail of men and boy leading two buffaloes on Ramayana mural in Emerald Buddha Temple

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This detail of a Ramayana mural painting at the Emerald Buddha Temple shows two men and a boy traveling with two water buffaloes. The two men lead their buffaloes past each other in opposite directions. A boy carrying a herding stick sits on top of the buffalo passing in front to the right.

The boy and the two men wear printed short pants with a sash tied at their waists. The man walking to the left also wears a matching printed shirt. Both men wear another long cloth tied as a headband, in typical Southeast Asian style.

This mural segment appears to have chipped paint, suggesting that it has not been restored or repainted in recent years.

This scene is part of a mural that suggests what life was like in the ancient kingdoms where Rama and Sita were born. It actually is based on an idealized vision of rural life during the late 1800s in Siam (now Thailand).

Some Siamese versions of the Ramayana were lost when the Burmese sacked the Siamese royal city of Ayudhya in 1767. A version was created between 1797 and 1807 under the writing supervision of King Rama I, the founder of the Chakri dynasty. His version was depicted on the painted murals surrounding the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok.

In addition to their knowledge of the Indian epic Ramayana, the mural paintings also suggest a familiarity with Chinese styles of landscape painting.

The original mural paintings in the Emerald Buddha Temple galleries are two hundred years old, but scenes are repainted from time to time under the supervision of the Thai royal family.

This image was photographed in August 1984.