India In The Land Of The Free

By Sumita Sami 5 February 2008 190 views No Comment

One of Asia ’s most striking characteristics is its diversity in the face of much geographical proximity. Sometimes ancient South Asian cultures permeate through to the countries that lie further along the map around South East Asia, and Thailand is one of these places. Although the Thai culture is a distinct and fascinating one in its own right, I couldn’t help noticing the extent of the Hindu influences on it.

The Lacquer Room

We had a very thorough introduction to the Indian background of the country when we visited the Suan Pakkad Palace (translated, “suan pakkad” means cabbage patch; the land was used for farming before it became a royal residence) in Bangkok . This museum is particularly special because it houses not just a personal collection of rare items from Prince and Princess Chumbhot, donated in 1952, but also the converted remains of their residence.

One of the central buildings is just a single spectacular room – the walls are covered in black lacquer and gold foil, making up the three types of murals in the room. They are a combination of portrayals of daily life, the life of Buddha, and below, the Thai version of a famous Indian epic, the Ramayana. The level of detail in the murals and the contrast between the black lacquer and gold foil made us spend a good ten minutes walking around with our backs half bent to search for familiar scenes.

Tosakan Photo Source

Another section of the museum displays the history of Khon, or Thai masked drama. The main story that Khon shows is the same adaptation of the Ramayana we saw in the lacquer room. Called Ramakien in Thailand , the characters are portrayed by actors through elaborate masks. I particularly liked seeing the image of Ravana, or Tosakan, the ten-headed villain - the mask cleverly has three layers, two with four sides and four faces, and the topmost with two faces, to portray all his ten heads.

The Ramayana is of more significance than just an elaborate story passed down from India . There are many Kings in Thailand whose official, royal names are Rama; the current King is Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great Rama IX, the longest reigning monarch in the world. In fact, all the Kings from 1782 to the present day have had Rama as a sort of title added to their names.

If we needed any more proof of the influence of Indian culture on Thailand , we found it in the huge murals of the Great Palace in Thailand . These are very beautiful colored stretches of wall, depicting specific events and places in the Ramayana .

There are simple scenes of what looked like disciples and teachers. And then there are stunning ones with gold foil added, probably to illustrate royalty and the splendor of battle.

We rounded off our stay in Thailand by visiting a Hindu temple near where we were staying. This was the Uma Devi temple; the goddess Uma in Thailand is another name for the mother goddess Devi in Hindu theology. The façade was very similar to the Hindu temples one can see anywhere in India , but there were subtle differences, like the additional carvings and colors that I thought had a distinct Thai look to them.

The Uma Devi temple in Silom

Photo Source

Inside too we found that not only were there the usual Hindu deities, but that statues of the Buddha were also present. There were groups of Buddhists and Hindus praying together using incense sticks and the deities had signs with their Thai names on them.

The trip was really fascinating, just as much for the similarities as the differences in culture that we saw in Thailand . South Asian cultures, and Indian influences, in particular, exist in more places than the Indian restaurants scattered through Thailand , and I’m glad we finally got the chance to visit.