Chapter 10 Mainland and Insular Southeast Asia 399Buddhist canon, codified the laws of Ayutthaya, and commissioned a commit-
tee of poets to rewrite the Rama story in a version known as the Ramakien.
Rama I himself, in an epilogue, urged hearers to let the story make them mind-
ful of impermanence. In other words, it is a colorful adventure of life in this
world, but in the Buddhist context, these transient affairs should be taken
lightly for ultimately they are only illusion.
The Ramakien is closer to the Ramayana, with its Hindu themes, than the
earlier more Buddhist texts. Shiva is the creator god in the background who
urges Vishnu to take form as the prince from Ayutthaya to save the world from
chaos. This theme must have felt profoundly significant to the warrior who sent
the Burmese packing and restored the Thai kingdom to a new period of peace
and prosperity—under the name Rama I.
In this new version, Hanuman is the favorite figure of the story, a dashing
spy and warrior devoted to rescuing Princess Sita but stopping to seduce other
beautiful women along the way. The Ramakien was written to be read or per-
formed, particularly as a court drama in a genre that was performed only by
women (Bofman 1984).
Rama I commissioned murals from the Ramakien on the gallery walls of
the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Fifty years later they were refurbished by
King Rama III. On the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Cakri dynasty,
they were again refurbished by Rama V. Rama VII renewed them on the 150th
anniversary, and during the 1980s they had their most recent renewal to mark
the 200th anniversary of the Cakri dynasty.Ravana kidnaps Sita
in a performance of
the Thai version
of the Ramakien,
one of the many
funeral events for
King Bhumibol
Adulyadej, 2017.