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Detail of four-armed Hanuman fighting (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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This detail from a painted Ramayana mural at the Emerald Buddha Temple shows the monkey god Hanuman perching on his arms upside down as he fights valiantly in the service of Prince Rama. Descending from a boulder, Hanuman wields swords and knives with his four hands, and a lance and ax with his two hind feet. A shower of enemy arrows and lances rains around him.
Hanuman is among the most beloved and accessible of Hindu deities, especially in mainland Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Cambodia. He is conceived as an incarnation of the Hindu god Siva. Hanuman’s destiny is to aid Prince Rama in the recovery of Rama’s wife Sita, who has been kidnapped by the demon king Ravana.
Hanuman is a symbol of strength, perseverence, and devotion to Asians. Whereas Rama, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, is seen as always doing his duty, Hanuman is seen as more affected by compassion. Hanuman therefore illustrates another kind of godly and human virtue.
This image was photographed in August 1984.
