Laksman cuts out heart of a slain deer (Thai Ramayana mural)
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- Unknown
- Location
- Bangkok, Thailand
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2006. Terms of use
See this photograph in context
- The Ramayana: The Hindu epic The Ramayana is retold through the mural, painting, and dance of Southeast Asia. (Page 7.5)
Related media
Learn more
- Search LEARN NC for art, Bangkok, deer, Emerald Buddha Temple, Laksman, murals, paintings, Ramayana, and Thailand.
In the classroom
- See our collection of articles on visual literacy for ideas on using photographs meaningfully in the classroom.
Laksman cuts out the heart of a deer, as seen on a mural at the Emerald Buddha Temple.
Rama’s brother Laksman, wearing golden Siamese royal clothes and crown, kneels beside a dead doe. The deer lies on her side, her back arched, her ears flopped on the ground.
In his right hand, Laksman holds the hilt of a sword that is thrust into the deer’s chest. In his left hand, he holds up the deer’s heart, which he will pretend he took from Sita.
In the Ramayana, Laksman is unable to carry out his brother Rama’s command that he kill Rama’s wife Sita out of misplaced jealousy. Rama expects to see Sita’s heart as proof of her death, but Laksman kills a deer and delivers that heart instead.
