Devotion

THOMAS KAISER L E E D O M L E F F E RT S / M A RT I N A W E R N S D Ö R F E R

Devotion Image, Recitation, and Celebration of the Vessantara Epic in Northeast Thailand

THOMAS KAISER L E E D O M L E F F E RT S / M A RT I N A W E R N S D Ö R F E R

Devotion Image, Recitation, and Celebration of the Vessantara Epic in Northeast Thailand

LAOS At the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich, scholars

My heartfelt thanks go to Thomas Kaiser and Leedom Lefferts and

study the societies and material cultures of all the world’s regions.

to all those who have supported the project – whom Thomas Kaiser

We usually work alongside each other on various projects. The

names in detail in his acknowledgements – for realising the project

question of the impact made by differing interpretations of texts,

in so many respects with tact and farsightedness. The project

such as methods of oral transmission, is a particularly exciting

Devotion: Image, Recitation, and Celebration of the Vessantara

subject which has kept us busy in all sorts of contexts. In the case

Epic in Northeast Thailand represents a milestone for the Ethno-

of this particular project, Martina Wernsdörfer, Sinologist and Asia

graphic Museum at the University of Zurich in our long-term efforts

Curator at the Ethnographic Museum, has enlarged on Thomas

to take a leading role in the development of practical and technical,

Kaiser’s research to add another variant of the narrative material

as well as methodological and theoretical, approaches to conserv-

from another region. In her essay she presents the ‘Tibetan’ (in

ing objects in genre-linked contexts.

M YA N M A R

Luang Prabang

VIETNAM Vang ng Vieng

THAILAND

V ntiane Vientiane

Loei

Udon Thani

the broadest sense of the term) story of Prince Choegyal Drimed Kuenden and his wife, Princess Menday Zangmo. The extraordi-

Mareile Flitsch

nary popularity of the epic, in this case disseminated by profes-

Director,

sional performers on public stages, in theatres, and even modern

Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich

Khon Kaen Chaiyaphum

cinema, is also impressively demonstrated in this essay.

Nakhon on Phanom Sakon Nakhon Mukdahan Kalasin Roii Et

Maha Sarakham

Yasothon th

Finally, the wealth of transmitted material presented in this volume leads onto a wider subject with important implications

Buriram

for our museums and collections. It raises the question of whether

Ubon Ratchatha hani ha Ratchathani P Pakse

Sisaket Surin

Ch hampasak h p Champasak

orally transmitted knowledge that is lived can be adequately conserved in the present and continue to be maintained in the future. The living narrative material presented here, crucial for global cultural heritage, is threatened with eventual oblivion in the

Bangkok

CAMBODIA

modern era, for various reasons. Are we – by this I mean academia worldwide – archiving it suficiently? Is it enough to chronicle epics with recording devices visually, with sound and movement, and store these – digitally – in archives? Admittedly, the sensory intensity of the physical and spiritual experience and collaboration at the interfaces at which the word meets multimedia staging cannot be fully documented in a museum. Nonetheless, current strategies for digital and material storage should not lose sight – in collecting as well as communicating – of the visibility of those cultural practices that go beyond text and personal observation and make up distinctively local phenomena from that which has

VIETNAM

been orally transmitted.

This project is also concerned with the added value of taking into consideration many aspects of the way the epic is represented in Northeast Thailand. In gradually heightening the intensity of the visual and aural impressions, the exhibition is structured to help visitors understand that a mere fraction of what there is to learn can actually be experienced through text and image – in this case painted scrolls dozens of metres long which, as central pieces of village processions, transport the text materially. ‘Devotion’ means, in fact, far more than just image and text and the things that tourists might have the chance to observe if they were actually there, yet it cannot embrace the cultural richness that informs a seemingly simple village festival.

M A L AY S I A

8

F O R E WO R D

F O R E WO R D

9

LAOS At the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich, scholars

My heartfelt thanks go to Thomas Kaiser and Leedom Lefferts and

study the societies and material cultures of all the world’s regions.

to all those who have supported the project – whom Thomas Kaiser

We usually work alongside each other on various projects. The

names in detail in his acknowledgements – for realising the project

question of the impact made by differing interpretations of texts,

in so many respects with tact and farsightedness. The project

such as methods of oral transmission, is a particularly exciting

Devotion: Image, Recitation, and Celebration of the Vessantara

subject which has kept us busy in all sorts of contexts. In the case

Epic in Northeast Thailand represents a milestone for the Ethno-

of this particular project, Martina Wernsdörfer, Sinologist and Asia

graphic Museum at the University of Zurich in our long-term efforts

Curator at the Ethnographic Museum, has enlarged on Thomas

to take a leading role in the development of practical and technical,

Kaiser’s research to add another variant of the narrative material

as well as methodological and theoretical, approaches to conserv-

from another region. In her essay she presents the ‘Tibetan’ (in

ing objects in genre-linked contexts.

M YA N M A R

Luang Prabang

VIETNAM Vang ng Vieng

THAILAND

V ntiane Vientiane

Loei

Udon Thani

the broadest sense of the term) story of Prince Choegyal Drimed Kuenden and his wife, Princess Menday Zangmo. The extraordi-

Mareile Flitsch

nary popularity of the epic, in this case disseminated by profes-

Director,

sional performers on public stages, in theatres, and even modern

Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich

Khon Kaen Chaiyaphum

cinema, is also impressively demonstrated in this essay.

Nakhon on Phanom Sakon Nakhon Mukdahan Kalasin Roii Et

Maha Sarakham

Yasothon th

Finally, the wealth of transmitted material presented in this volume leads onto a wider subject with important implications

Buriram

for our museums and collections. It raises the question of whether

Ubon Ratchatha hani ha Ratchathani P Pakse

Sisaket Surin

Ch hampasak h p Champasak

orally transmitted knowledge that is lived can be adequately conserved in the present and continue to be maintained in the future. The living narrative material presented here, crucial for global cultural heritage, is threatened with eventual oblivion in the

Bangkok

CAMBODIA

modern era, for various reasons. Are we – by this I mean academia worldwide – archiving it suficiently? Is it enough to chronicle epics with recording devices visually, with sound and movement, and store these – digitally – in archives? Admittedly, the sensory intensity of the physical and spiritual experience and collaboration at the interfaces at which the word meets multimedia staging cannot be fully documented in a museum. Nonetheless, current strategies for digital and material storage should not lose sight – in collecting as well as communicating – of the visibility of those cultural practices that go beyond text and personal observation and make up distinctively local phenomena from that which has

VIETNAM

been orally transmitted.

This project is also concerned with the added value of taking into consideration many aspects of the way the epic is represented in Northeast Thailand. In gradually heightening the intensity of the visual and aural impressions, the exhibition is structured to help visitors understand that a mere fraction of what there is to learn can actually be experienced through text and image – in this case painted scrolls dozens of metres long which, as central pieces of village processions, transport the text materially. ‘Devotion’ means, in fact, far more than just image and text and the things that tourists might have the chance to observe if they were actually there, yet it cannot embrace the cultural richness that informs a seemingly simple village festival.

M A L AY S I A

8

F O R E WO R D

F O R E WO R D

9

Sin Sai, the hero of a Lao folk epic, caresses a kinnarī, a mythical creature from the Himalayan forest, which is usually represented as having the lower body of a bird and a human head and torso. It was believed that a kinnarī and a human being could unite in certain circumstances. In his cosmological work Trai Phum Phra Ruang (Three Worlds According to King Ruang), King Phya Lithai, a fourteenth-century ruler of Sukothai, described such a relationship between a Brahmin and a kinnarī. The fruits of their union were two eggs, from which hatched two boys, who later became monks and attained enlightenment (Reynolds 1982: 209f.). According to one version of the legend that was already widespread in Southeast Asia at that time, the boys were Bhadra and Manosāra, who lew to the walls encircling the universe after their parents had died, where the cosmic law was written in bold letters. Bhadra memorised the Vedas, while Manosāra memorised the dhammathat, the traditional compilation of Buddhist laws (Huxley 1996: 599). Wall fresco, Wat Sanuan Wari (Khon Kaen).

The hermit Accuta gives directions to Jūjaka, who, at the bottom of the picture, wards off a leopard with his stick. Wall fresco, irst half of the nineteenth century, artists: Thong Yu and Pae Khong, Wat Suwannaram (Bangkok).

Makkali tree with nariphon fruits in varying stages of ripeness. Bottom right, a hermit is fondling a nariphon maiden he has just plucked from the tree.

Makkali trees are part of the fantastic lora of the Himaphan, the Himalayan forest of Thai and Lao mythology; their fruits look ‘like maidens who have just reached sixteen years of age. When men see them, they fall in love with them, and when they drop, the birds lock around to eat them like bears eating honey’ (Reynolds 1982: 291f.). According to Thai variants of the Vessantara Jātaka, these makkali trees were planted by Sakka, king of the gods, to distract ascetics and hermits who might otherwise have forced their unwelcome attentions on Maddī. Men who had intercourse with these fruits lost their virility as well as their magical powers (McDaniel 2011: 173). Wall fresco, latter half of the nineteenth century, artist: Phra Khrū Wirotratanobon, Wat Thung Sri Muang (Ubon Ratchathani).

On his way to Vessantara’s hermitage, Jūjaka encounters a tiger, whose huge eyes seem to be gazing at the viewer with an expression of alarm. Wall fresco, Wat Photharam (Maha Sarakham).

As late as the 1950s much of Northeast Thailand was covered in dense forest, inhabited by ‘many tigers and black panthers, both being very bold and dangerous’, as well as gaur (a wild bovine), wild dogs, pythons, cobras, peacocks, hornbills and jungle fowl (Seidenfaden 1952: 158).

Wall fresco, Wat Na Kuay (Ubon Ratchathani).

Detail of an interior in which the centrally placed Buddha sculpture (outside the frame) is lanked by two murals of tigers. Until a few decades ago, encounters between tigers and itinerant monks (phra thudong) belonging to the Thai-Lao Buddhist ‘forest tradition’ were not unusual.

These monks’ training included extensive sojourns in forests, where they had to confront real dangers as well as their own fears, according to the motto of Ajan Man, a master of their tradition: ‘If you are terriied of tigers, be where the tigers are, and make friends with them.’ Occasional inds of alms bowls or torn monks’ robes in the forest attested that such encounters did not always end well for monks (Tiyavanich 1997: 80f., 95).

Wall fresco, Wat Sa Bua Kaeo (Khon Kaen).

20

V E S S A N TA R A J ĀTA K A

T H E N A R R AT I V E A S A N E C H O C H A M B E R

21

Sin Sai, the hero of a Lao folk epic, caresses a kinnarī, a mythical creature from the Himalayan forest, which is usually represented as having the lower body of a bird and a human head and torso. It was believed that a kinnarī and a human being could unite in certain circumstances. In his cosmological work Trai Phum Phra Ruang (Three Worlds According to King Ruang), King Phya Lithai, a fourteenth-century ruler of Sukothai, described such a relationship between a Brahmin and a kinnarī. The fruits of their union were two eggs, from which hatched two boys, who later became monks and attained enlightenment (Reynolds 1982: 209f.). According to one version of the legend that was already widespread in Southeast Asia at that time, the boys were Bhadra and Manosāra, who lew to the walls encircling the universe after their parents had died, where the cosmic law was written in bold letters. Bhadra memorised the Vedas, while Manosāra memorised the dhammathat, the traditional compilation of Buddhist laws (Huxley 1996: 599). Wall fresco, Wat Sanuan Wari (Khon Kaen).

The hermit Accuta gives directions to Jūjaka, who, at the bottom of the picture, wards off a leopard with his stick. Wall fresco, irst half of the nineteenth century, artists: Thong Yu and Pae Khong, Wat Suwannaram (Bangkok).

Makkali tree with nariphon fruits in varying stages of ripeness. Bottom right, a hermit is fondling a nariphon maiden he has just plucked from the tree.

Makkali trees are part of the fantastic lora of the Himaphan, the Himalayan forest of Thai and Lao mythology; their fruits look ‘like maidens who have just reached sixteen years of age. When men see them, they fall in love with them, and when they drop, the birds lock around to eat them like bears eating honey’ (Reynolds 1982: 291f.). According to Thai variants of the Vessantara Jātaka, these makkali trees were planted by Sakka, king of the gods, to distract ascetics and hermits who might otherwise have forced their unwelcome attentions on Maddī. Men who had intercourse with these fruits lost their virility as well as their magical powers (McDaniel 2011: 173). Wall fresco, latter half of the nineteenth century, artist: Phra Khrū Wirotratanobon, Wat Thung Sri Muang (Ubon Ratchathani).

On his way to Vessantara’s hermitage, Jūjaka encounters a tiger, whose huge eyes seem to be gazing at the viewer with an expression of alarm. Wall fresco, Wat Photharam (Maha Sarakham).

As late as the 1950s much of Northeast Thailand was covered in dense forest, inhabited by ‘many tigers and black panthers, both being very bold and dangerous’, as well as gaur (a wild bovine), wild dogs, pythons, cobras, peacocks, hornbills and jungle fowl (Seidenfaden 1952: 158).

Wall fresco, Wat Na Kuay (Ubon Ratchathani).

Detail of an interior in which the centrally placed Buddha sculpture (outside the frame) is lanked by two murals of tigers. Until a few decades ago, encounters between tigers and itinerant monks (phra thudong) belonging to the Thai-Lao Buddhist ‘forest tradition’ were not unusual.

These monks’ training included extensive sojourns in forests, where they had to confront real dangers as well as their own fears, according to the motto of Ajan Man, a master of their tradition: ‘If you are terriied of tigers, be where the tigers are, and make friends with them.’ Occasional inds of alms bowls or torn monks’ robes in the forest attested that such encounters did not always end well for monks (Tiyavanich 1997: 80f., 95).

Wall fresco, Wat Sa Bua Kaeo (Khon Kaen).

20

V E S S A N TA R A J ĀTA K A

T H E N A R R AT I V E A S A N E C H O C H A M B E R

21

Their observations and relections inally make Sītā yearn to see

Hence, the Vessantara Jātaka is aesthetically and structurally

the forest and the river once again and to experience the joys of

suited to a wide variety of regional and cultural contexts almost

‘having a plunge in the holy, cool, and translucent waters of the

everywhere that Buddhism spread: remembered in mourning

exalted Bhāgīrathī’,

the upper reaches of the Ganges. Rāma,

and ield-working songs in Sri Lanka,143 as the subject of recitations

who follows Sītā’s every whim, begs his brother to arrange for a

at Newar merit-making festivals in the Kathmandu Valley of

vehicle to convey them on the trip.

Nepal,144 at exorcism rituals of in Tibetan Buddhism,145 and visually

140

Just like Rāma, Sītā and Lakshman.a in the play, present-day visitors to a Southeast Asian wat can easily connect the imaginary

represented in reliefs on memorial stones erected by ancient Chinese socio-religious organisations (yìyì or faˇyì).146

world of a mural or sculpture to the physical world around them.

The earliest traces of the Vessantara Jātaka in Southeast Asia

Justin McDaniel described the atmosphere in which art is per-

are also found on stone stelae, called sema, dating from the eighth

formed in a wat. The boundaries between entertainment and

to the eleventh centuries, where they were used to demarcate

ritual are luid; the direction of movement is not prescribed. Vis-

Buddhist sacred sites. Of 172 sema stones examined by Stephen

itors to the wat converse, use their mobile phones, eat and wor-

Murphy in Mueang Fa Det, a centre of the ancient Southeast Asian

ship without seeming distracted by the frolicking children and

Dvaravati culture in Northeast Thailand, ifty-ive bear scenes from

pedlars hawking their wares.

the jātaka and from the Buddha’s life, and two of them depict

141

To the uninitiated, this may look chaotic and appear to lack

scenes from the Vessantara Jātaka.147

religious seriousness, but the actual order underlying what is happening is only revealed on closer scrutiny: The worshipper balances a long-stemmed lotus lower, a candle, and incense sticks in her hands; folded tissue paper with a

The politics of the Vessantara Jātaka

small, whisper-thin piece of gold leaf is wedged in between these

This detail of a fresco matches Vidya Dehejia’s deinition of synoptic narration in ancient Indian Buddhist art (1990: 382). On a surface of about 1.5 × 1.5 metres, the artist has greatly condensed a wealth of key moments in the narrative. The temporal and causal sequence of events has been suspended by a simultaneity of representation. To do this, the artist has duplicated the hermitage and shows Vessantara and Maddī in this portion of the mural no less than seven times each.

In the scenes at the top Vessantara is shown after his return to the capital. Residents drip water on him from a sacral vessel (nāk), in which the forms of a boat and a mythical serpent are combined. This scene refers to a ritual known as hod song (‘pouring water’), through which villagers in Northeast Thailand and Laos raise a monk of outstanding reputation up to a higher rank. In the context of our story, however, it seems to be a form of sukhwan, ‘calling the khwan’, which ensures a traveller’s safe return from a long journey. Khwan – parts of the human soul – are easily enticed to separate from the body and remain in the wilderness when people are travelling, resulting in illness and suffering for their owners (I am indebted to Leedom Lefferts for this interpretation of the scene. For hod song and sukhwan also see Tambiah 1970: 109f., 223f.).

Directly below this scene Vessantara and Maddī, carrying their children, are about to reach their place of refuge and begin their life in exile. The contour of a mountain range separates them from three big cats that – later in the story – will prevent Maddī from returning home from the forest in time to save the children.

On the lower right-hand edge of this frame, Maddī looks out for the children from a tree. On the left, next to this scene, she is depicted seeking the children in a pond. Jāli and Kan.hājinā are actually concealed there beneath lily pads, but they are hiding from Vessantara, not their mother. Above the pond the children are shown still seated in the hermitage behind their father. Here Vessantara is about to hand them over to Jūjaka and seals the gift with an offering of water from a jug, which is why the children try to hide in the pond.

In the hermitage on the left, Vessantara is shown giving Maddī, who is seated behind him, to Sakka, king of the gods, who is disguised as an old Brahmin. This gift is also sealed with water. To the left of the hermitage, Sakka is depicted still in his divine form, recognisable by his green skin colour. Beneath the hermitage scene, Vessantara rouses his wife, who has fainted after searching in vain for her children, only to tell her, in the next scene to the left, that she now belongs to the old Brahmin. In the left-hand bottom corner of the mural, the Brahmin leads Maddī out of the picture. Wall fresco, Wat Pa Rerai (Maha Sarakham).

sticks. She places the lowers in a bowl set out the image of the

In contrast to Brahmanism and the Abrahamic religions, the

Buddha for that purpose, presses the piece of gold leaf onto the

practice of Buddhism lies chiely with the individual and his or

statue, lights the incense and the candle with an eternal lame

her community and not through the agency of a priestly caste.

and puts them into the designated holders. Kneeling, she puts

Hence, nothing prevented the spread of Buddhist doctrine

her hands together in front of her forehead and bows low down three times, so that her forehead almost touches the loor.

Kneeling upright again and pressing her palms together at chest-height, she gazes at the Buddha image, moving her lips in silent prayer. Finally, she bows three times again, stands up, smooths her skirt, looks around to get her bearings, and goes on her way.

None of her gestures or words are arbitrary or expressed half-heartedly. The impression of confusion results from the rituals being performed individually with a rhythm of their own while the paths of the worshippers criss-cross.

This form of ritual picture viewing is also a method of rural self-empowerment. Understanding the Buddhist discourses, which were originally written in Pāli and Sanskrit, is dependent on study and education, which was not readily available in rural areas even in the recent past. Therefore, well-educated specialists were needed to teach the sacred scriptures, who were overqualiied for service in a village wat. They were were not needed, too, because village Buddhism is well mediated through images and legends. It adapts to the worshippers’ living conditions and needs, no matter what their language or level of education.142

30

V E S S A N TA R A J ĀTA K A

A sema stone from the Southeast Asian Dvaravati culture, presumably eighth to ninth century CE. Stones of this kind – most of them without igurative representations – mark the boundaries of Buddhist sacred sites, particularly the part of wat precincts reserved for the ordination hall. The relief shows Vessantara (bottom centre) giving his wife, Maddī, to the god Sakka (bottom left) and sealing the gift with water.

Murphy (2010: 251) includes an earlier photograph of the stone, which provides fulllength images of the igures.

This photograph shows that the stone has been dug well into the ground in its present site. Wat Sribunruang (Kalasin).

T H E P O L I T I C S O F T H E V E S S A N TA R A J ĀTA K A

31

Their observations and relections inally make Sītā yearn to see

Hence, the Vessantara Jātaka is aesthetically and structurally

the forest and the river once again and to experience the joys of

suited to a wide variety of regional and cultural contexts almost

‘having a plunge in the holy, cool, and translucent waters of the

everywhere that Buddhism spread: remembered in mourning

exalted Bhāgīrathī’,

the upper reaches of the Ganges. Rāma,

and ield-working songs in Sri Lanka,143 as the subject of recitations

who follows Sītā’s every whim, begs his brother to arrange for a

at Newar merit-making festivals in the Kathmandu Valley of

vehicle to convey them on the trip.

Nepal,144 at exorcism rituals of in Tibetan Buddhism,145 and visually

140

Just like Rāma, Sītā and Lakshman.a in the play, present-day visitors to a Southeast Asian wat can easily connect the imaginary

represented in reliefs on memorial stones erected by ancient Chinese socio-religious organisations (yìyì or faˇyì).146

world of a mural or sculpture to the physical world around them.

The earliest traces of the Vessantara Jātaka in Southeast Asia

Justin McDaniel described the atmosphere in which art is per-

are also found on stone stelae, called sema, dating from the eighth

formed in a wat. The boundaries between entertainment and

to the eleventh centuries, where they were used to demarcate

ritual are luid; the direction of movement is not prescribed. Vis-

Buddhist sacred sites. Of 172 sema stones examined by Stephen

itors to the wat converse, use their mobile phones, eat and wor-

Murphy in Mueang Fa Det, a centre of the ancient Southeast Asian

ship without seeming distracted by the frolicking children and

Dvaravati culture in Northeast Thailand, ifty-ive bear scenes from

pedlars hawking their wares.

the jātaka and from the Buddha’s life, and two of them depict

141

To the uninitiated, this may look chaotic and appear to lack

scenes from the Vessantara Jātaka.147

religious seriousness, but the actual order underlying what is happening is only revealed on closer scrutiny: The worshipper balances a long-stemmed lotus lower, a candle, and incense sticks in her hands; folded tissue paper with a

The politics of the Vessantara Jātaka

small, whisper-thin piece of gold leaf is wedged in between these

This detail of a fresco matches Vidya Dehejia’s deinition of synoptic narration in ancient Indian Buddhist art (1990: 382). On a surface of about 1.5 × 1.5 metres, the artist has greatly condensed a wealth of key moments in the narrative. The temporal and causal sequence of events has been suspended by a simultaneity of representation. To do this, the artist has duplicated the hermitage and shows Vessantara and Maddī in this portion of the mural no less than seven times each.

In the scenes at the top Vessantara is shown after his return to the capital. Residents drip water on him from a sacral vessel (nāk), in which the forms of a boat and a mythical serpent are combined. This scene refers to a ritual known as hod song (‘pouring water’), through which villagers in Northeast Thailand and Laos raise a monk of outstanding reputation up to a higher rank. In the context of our story, however, it seems to be a form of sukhwan, ‘calling the khwan’, which ensures a traveller’s safe return from a long journey. Khwan – parts of the human soul – are easily enticed to separate from the body and remain in the wilderness when people are travelling, resulting in illness and suffering for their owners (I am indebted to Leedom Lefferts for this interpretation of the scene. For hod song and sukhwan also see Tambiah 1970: 109f., 223f.).

Directly below this scene Vessantara and Maddī, carrying their children, are about to reach their place of refuge and begin their life in exile. The contour of a mountain range separates them from three big cats that – later in the story – will prevent Maddī from returning home from the forest in time to save the children.

On the lower right-hand edge of this frame, Maddī looks out for the children from a tree. On the left, next to this scene, she is depicted seeking the children in a pond. Jāli and Kan.hājinā are actually concealed there beneath lily pads, but they are hiding from Vessantara, not their mother. Above the pond the children are shown still seated in the hermitage behind their father. Here Vessantara is about to hand them over to Jūjaka and seals the gift with an offering of water from a jug, which is why the children try to hide in the pond.

In the hermitage on the left, Vessantara is shown giving Maddī, who is seated behind him, to Sakka, king of the gods, who is disguised as an old Brahmin. This gift is also sealed with water. To the left of the hermitage, Sakka is depicted still in his divine form, recognisable by his green skin colour. Beneath the hermitage scene, Vessantara rouses his wife, who has fainted after searching in vain for her children, only to tell her, in the next scene to the left, that she now belongs to the old Brahmin. In the left-hand bottom corner of the mural, the Brahmin leads Maddī out of the picture. Wall fresco, Wat Pa Rerai (Maha Sarakham).

sticks. She places the lowers in a bowl set out the image of the

In contrast to Brahmanism and the Abrahamic religions, the

Buddha for that purpose, presses the piece of gold leaf onto the

practice of Buddhism lies chiely with the individual and his or

statue, lights the incense and the candle with an eternal lame

her community and not through the agency of a priestly caste.

and puts them into the designated holders. Kneeling, she puts

Hence, nothing prevented the spread of Buddhist doctrine

her hands together in front of her forehead and bows low down three times, so that her forehead almost touches the loor.

Kneeling upright again and pressing her palms together at chest-height, she gazes at the Buddha image, moving her lips in silent prayer. Finally, she bows three times again, stands up, smooths her skirt, looks around to get her bearings, and goes on her way.

None of her gestures or words are arbitrary or expressed half-heartedly. The impression of confusion results from the rituals being performed individually with a rhythm of their own while the paths of the worshippers criss-cross.

This form of ritual picture viewing is also a method of rural self-empowerment. Understanding the Buddhist discourses, which were originally written in Pāli and Sanskrit, is dependent on study and education, which was not readily available in rural areas even in the recent past. Therefore, well-educated specialists were needed to teach the sacred scriptures, who were overqualiied for service in a village wat. They were were not needed, too, because village Buddhism is well mediated through images and legends. It adapts to the worshippers’ living conditions and needs, no matter what their language or level of education.142

30

V E S S A N TA R A J ĀTA K A

A sema stone from the Southeast Asian Dvaravati culture, presumably eighth to ninth century CE. Stones of this kind – most of them without igurative representations – mark the boundaries of Buddhist sacred sites, particularly the part of wat precincts reserved for the ordination hall. The relief shows Vessantara (bottom centre) giving his wife, Maddī, to the god Sakka (bottom left) and sealing the gift with water.

Murphy (2010: 251) includes an earlier photograph of the stone, which provides fulllength images of the igures.

This photograph shows that the stone has been dug well into the ground in its present site. Wat Sribunruang (Kalasin).

T H E P O L I T I C S O F T H E V E S S A N TA R A J ĀTA K A

31

Phra Wet donates his horse carriage.

Two men ride an elephant, singing and dancing.

Asking for the horses.

The 8 Brahmins who asked for the elephant already return to Kaling.

The king’s soldiers block the way.

78

BĀN PHEK SCROLL

The Brahmins from Kalin ˙ga set out for home on their elephant

back is enigmatic. This may be Jūjaka dying, even though the event

without allowing themselves to be stopped by the Sivi soldiers.

is not dealt with until much later, towards the end of the story

In a chariot drawn by four horses, Vessantara, his wife, Maddī, and

(p. 97). Two of the planes in the sky are marked ‘USA’. This scroll

their children, Jāli and Kan.hājinā, travel towards Mount Vam . ka,

was painted in 1968, when the Vietnam War was at its height.

where they are to live in exile. Four more Brahmins stop their prog-

Maybe the artist has seen American bombers lying missions to

ress and beg for the horses. The scene with the igure lying on his

Laos and Vietnam from their base near Udon Thani in Isan.

BĀN PHEK SCROLL

79

Phra Wet donates his horse carriage.

Two men ride an elephant, singing and dancing.

Asking for the horses.

The 8 Brahmins who asked for the elephant already return to Kaling.

The king’s soldiers block the way.

78

BĀN PHEK SCROLL

The Brahmins from Kalin ˙ga set out for home on their elephant

back is enigmatic. This may be Jūjaka dying, even though the event

without allowing themselves to be stopped by the Sivi soldiers.

is not dealt with until much later, towards the end of the story

In a chariot drawn by four horses, Vessantara, his wife, Maddī, and

(p. 97). Two of the planes in the sky are marked ‘USA’. This scroll

their children, Jāli and Kan.hājinā, travel towards Mount Vam . ka,

was painted in 1968, when the Vietnam War was at its height.

where they are to live in exile. Four more Brahmins stop their prog-

Maybe the artist has seen American bombers lying missions to

ress and beg for the horses. The scene with the igure lying on his

Laos and Vietnam from their base near Udon Thani in Isan.

BĀN PHEK SCROLL

79

Now here Nang Amitata goes to fetch water. Young Brahmins’ wives from many directions block path, slander (Chuchok chapter, 79 verses.)

and hit her because she is different: she married an old Brahmin.

Now in this house lives a Brahmin’s wife named Nang Amitata [Amittatāpanā]. She had to marry an old husband

On a shoulder-pole the Brahmin carries water for his

because in her previous life she worshipped with withered lowers.

wife.

Well

The Brahmin goes to ask for and bring back Kanhā

Chuchok [Jūjaka] says goodbye to his wife; he is going to ask for Kan-

and Chalī from Mount

hā and Chalī.

Wongkot.

Nang Amitata

Water jar

returns after sending off her husband to ask for Kanhā and Chalī on Mount Wongkot.

Jūjaka, an elderly beggar, had entrusted a sum of money to a

with wilted flowers – a sign of stinginess, laziness, or negli-

mock, scold, and even beat her when she goes to fetch water

The artist arranges the major events of this episode along a loop.

friend, but when he returned to ask for it, his friend had already

gence.

from the well. Unable to bear these women’s insults any longer,

To prevent Jūjaka running into himself, the painter has connected

spent it. Instead, he gave him his daughter, Amittatāpanā, as

Amittatāpanā is a model wife for the ugly old Brahmin, con-

Amittatāpanā urges her husband to go and ask Vessantara – who

the upper and lower arcs of the path with a linking path on which

his wife. According to the artist the girl herself is to blame for

stantly held up as a reproach to their wives by the other men in

is universally known for being unable to turn away a supplicant

Jūjaka carrying water for his wife can avoid encountering himself

her fate because in a previous life she made a religious offering

the village. Hence the village women resent Amittatāpanā; they

– for his children whom she intends to use as domestic slaves.

setting out for the children.

84

BĀN PHEK SCROLL

BĀN PHEK SCROLL

85

Now here Nang Amitata goes to fetch water. Young Brahmins’ wives from many directions block path, slander (Chuchok chapter, 79 verses.)

and hit her because she is different: she married an old Brahmin.

Now in this house lives a Brahmin’s wife named Nang Amitata [Amittatāpanā]. She had to marry an old husband

On a shoulder-pole the Brahmin carries water for his

because in her previous life she worshipped with withered lowers.

wife.

Well

The Brahmin goes to ask for and bring back Kanhā

Chuchok [Jūjaka] says goodbye to his wife; he is going to ask for Kan-

and Chalī from Mount

hā and Chalī.

Wongkot.

Nang Amitata

Water jar

returns after sending off her husband to ask for Kanhā and Chalī on Mount Wongkot.

Jūjaka, an elderly beggar, had entrusted a sum of money to a

with wilted flowers – a sign of stinginess, laziness, or negli-

mock, scold, and even beat her when she goes to fetch water

The artist arranges the major events of this episode along a loop.

friend, but when he returned to ask for it, his friend had already

gence.

from the well. Unable to bear these women’s insults any longer,

To prevent Jūjaka running into himself, the painter has connected

spent it. Instead, he gave him his daughter, Amittatāpanā, as

Amittatāpanā is a model wife for the ugly old Brahmin, con-

Amittatāpanā urges her husband to go and ask Vessantara – who

the upper and lower arcs of the path with a linking path on which

his wife. According to the artist the girl herself is to blame for

stantly held up as a reproach to their wives by the other men in

is universally known for being unable to turn away a supplicant

Jūjaka carrying water for his wife can avoid encountering himself

her fate because in a previous life she made a religious offering

the village. Hence the village women resent Amittatāpanā; they

– for his children whom she intends to use as domestic slaves.

setting out for the children.

84

BĀN PHEK SCROLL

BĀN PHEK SCROLL

85

Bān Thā Muang scroll

Here Lord Indra’s form

Here is the big [i.e. Bengal] tiger

changes, he descends

and the yellow tiger.

as a Brahmin and asks

Here the woman Matsi goes to get wild potatoes.

for Matsi.

Last night she had an evil dream and understood that it was an omen. Consequently she had to hurry to Here Phra Wet gives the two

Here the mother woman hermit

Here Phra Wet gives

calls to the children.

the woman Matsi

return in the evening.

Here is the hermitage of Chutta [Pāli: Accuta] the hermit.

small children to the Brahmin.

to Indra Sakka the

Honorable Uncle

Brahmin.

Here the Brahmin has accomplished Here the woman hermit cries

Here Phra Wet helps the woman Matsi to sit

Here Phra Wet calls the chil-

looking for the children.

from lying down and speaks the truth.

dren out of the lotus lower

his mission; then he travelled again.

Chutta hermit tells the path to go to Mt. Wongkot.

pond to give them Here the woman hermit

to the Brahmin.

Here is a rubber tree.

enters the pond to look for the children.

Here the Brahmin already has 077 Here the woman hermit

Here is the lotus lower pond

Here the father calls the two children to come out and tells the price of the two.

feeds milk to the children.

where the two small children

Chalī has [is valued at] 1,000 gold pieces, one basket [full]. Younger Kanhā points to

went in and hid their bodies.

her brother: “You have a cost as much as the cost of an elephant, horse, male and

[the children]; he returns home.

Here the severed

[Possibly:] Angry.

vine is broken and

[Referring to the

restored.

animal with its lifted right paw.]

female slaves. Everything is in the hundreds surely, father?”

1 02

B Ā N T H Ā M UA N G S C R O L L

103

Bān Thā Muang scroll

Here Lord Indra’s form

Here is the big [i.e. Bengal] tiger

changes, he descends

and the yellow tiger.

as a Brahmin and asks

Here the woman Matsi goes to get wild potatoes.

for Matsi.

Last night she had an evil dream and understood that it was an omen. Consequently she had to hurry to Here Phra Wet gives the two

Here the mother woman hermit

Here Phra Wet gives

calls to the children.

the woman Matsi

return in the evening.

Here is the hermitage of Chutta [Pāli: Accuta] the hermit.

small children to the Brahmin.

to Indra Sakka the

Honorable Uncle

Brahmin.

Here the Brahmin has accomplished Here the woman hermit cries

Here Phra Wet helps the woman Matsi to sit

Here Phra Wet calls the chil-

looking for the children.

from lying down and speaks the truth.

dren out of the lotus lower

his mission; then he travelled again.

Chutta hermit tells the path to go to Mt. Wongkot.

pond to give them Here the woman hermit

to the Brahmin.

Here is a rubber tree.

enters the pond to look for the children.

Here the Brahmin already has 077 Here the woman hermit

Here is the lotus lower pond

Here the father calls the two children to come out and tells the price of the two.

feeds milk to the children.

where the two small children

Chalī has [is valued at] 1,000 gold pieces, one basket [full]. Younger Kanhā points to

went in and hid their bodies.

her brother: “You have a cost as much as the cost of an elephant, horse, male and

[the children]; he returns home.

Here the severed

[Possibly:] Angry.

vine is broken and

[Referring to the

restored.

animal with its lifted right paw.]

female slaves. Everything is in the hundreds surely, father?”

1 02

B Ā N T H Ā M UA N G S C R O L L

103

Bān Sing – Phra Malai scroll fragment

148

P H R A M A L A I S C R O L L F R AG M E N T

149

Bān Sing – Phra Malai scroll fragment

148

P H R A M A L A I S C R O L L F R AG M E N T

149

1 54

B Ā N K R AC H A E N G S C R O L L

B Ā N K R AC H A E N G S C R O L L

155

1 54

B Ā N K R AC H A E N G S C R O L L

B Ā N K R AC H A E N G S C R O L L

155

101 verses

9 Matsi 90 verses

10 Sakkaban [Sakka’s Words]

43 verses

59 verses

11 Maharat [The Great King].

Kuman [The Children]

Perform good deeds

168

B Ā N K A N ĀW S C R O L L

B Ā N K A N ĀW S C R O L L

169

101 verses

9 Matsi 90 verses

10 Sakkaban [Sakka’s Words]

43 verses

59 verses

11 Maharat [The Great King].

Kuman [The Children]

Perform good deeds

168

B Ā N K A N ĀW S C R O L L

B Ā N K A N ĀW S C R O L L

169

Thangka with scenes representing episodes from the tale of Prince Choegyal Drimed Kuenden. Spiti, Pin Valley 2014.

184

C H O E G YA L D R I M E D K U E N D E N

Thangka with scenes representing episodes from the tale of Prince Choegyal Drimed Kuenden. Spiti, Pin Valley 2014.

T H E T E X T A S I N D I C ATO R O F M O O D – D R A M AT I C S A N D E M OT I O N S

185

Thangka with scenes representing episodes from the tale of Prince Choegyal Drimed Kuenden. Spiti, Pin Valley 2014.

184

C H O E G YA L D R I M E D K U E N D E N

Thangka with scenes representing episodes from the tale of Prince Choegyal Drimed Kuenden. Spiti, Pin Valley 2014.

T H E T E X T A S I N D I C ATO R O F M O O D – D R A M AT I C S A N D E M OT I O N S

185