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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Two bird creatures with human heads 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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Two bird creatures with human heads on mural at Emerald Buddha Temple

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This detail from the Ramayana mural at the Emerald Buddha Temple shows two bird creatures with male human heads. The creatures’ feathered bodies are painted light brown and modelled on short-tailed chickens or hawks. From the front of the bird heads, human faces rather than beaks appear.

Much like ancient Greek and Roman mythology, the Ramayana depicts a world where gods still have direct and intimate contact with the daily lives of humans, demons, and animals. At the whims of the gods, intermarriage among various types of deities and earthly creatures is possible.

This image was photographed in August 1984.