‘Hanuman Jayanthi..........’

‘Hanuman Jayanthi’, the 'birth of Maruti’ is celebrated today, the 15^th day of Shukla Paksha in the month of Chaitra as per Hindu calendar. Today is also the ‘Chaitra Pournima’. Hanuman, an ardent devotee of Bhagwan Rama, is worshiped for his deep faith and devotion to Shri Rama who is revered for his unending compassion, courage and devotion to values and duties. Hanuman, son of Vayu (wind God), is said to be immortal. He is the symbol of strength, energy, truth and loyalty.  The Ramayan is the story of triumph of good against evil.

‘Ramakien’, glory of Shri Rama, is Thailand’s national epic, is based on Valmiki Ramayan from India. This work had greatly influenced Thai culture, literature, art and drama. The walls of Wat Pra Kaew of Thai Grand Palace in Bangkok, where the temple of Emerald Buddha is also located, are beautifully emblazoned with 178 mural paintings representing the entire story of Ramakien, dating from late 18^th century.  The Ramakien is considered as one of the masterpieces in Thai literature. It is still vastly read and taught in the country’s schools.

Hanuman is one of the central characters in epic Ramayana. He also finds references in mythological texts such as Mahabharata, various other epic literatures and some Jain writings. In Ramayana, Hanuman has been described as a humanoid ape. He searched and found Sita, the wife of Rama, in Ashokavan of Sri Lanka and later participated in Rama’s war against King Ravana.   Shri Rama was a great human being, embodiment of noble values and virtues. 

I and my wife visited the Grand Palace in Bangkok in August 2013 and spent a day seeing the Ramakien mural paintings on the walls of Wat Pra Kaew. The pictures that we took at Grand Palace in Bangkok are most amazing and some of them shown below are self explanatory!

 

D. Jayarama Bhat