MFU Conference Paper

The 6th AASIC (Asian Academic Society International Conference), November 8-10, 2018 Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Thai Culture and Indian Culture: Historical & Modern Perspectives Associate Professor Dr. Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn Bodhisastra University Florida, USA

dhirapin@gmail.com Abstract This paper explores the historical links between Thailand and India in terms of cultures and related issues. It aims to re-establish and strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. Historically, the cultural and economic interaction between the two countries can be traced to roughly around the 6th Century B.C. However, direct contact can be said to have begun only in the 3rd Century B.C. when King Ashoka sent Buddhist monks to propagate Buddhism in the Indo-Chinese peninsula. Besides, Thailand has also adopted other typically Indian religious and cultural traditions. The former capital of Thailand was known as Ayudhaya. This is obvious that the famous Indian epic Ramayana had an impact even on the name of the ancient Thai capital. Ramayana in Thailand was known as Ramakien. Lord Rama's name was considered as a sacred name and used by the rulers of Chakri dynasty who used it with their names. This shows how the Indian epic influenced mind and morals of the Thai society.

Introduction Thai Cultures Thailand is located at the meeting point of the two great cultural systems of Asia, Chinese and Indian. In everyday life, Chinese culture has mixed very well with the Thai, whereas in Thai court culture, which has been based mainly on Buddhism and Brahmanism, India has exerted a strong influence. Thai culture can be divided into 3 aspects: linguistic culture, court culture, and traditional culture.

CourtCulture Court culture refers to the conception of beauty, perfection and harmony in the fine arts, including painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, drama and music. In the old days most of these originated in or received the patronage of the royal court and nobility. Most of the works served the Buddhist religion. Their styles were influenced by the Indians through the Mons and Khmers, and then were blended and developed in unique forms recognized as Thai.

Court Culture: Painting Classical Thai painting is mostly confined to mural paintings inside Buddhist temples and palaces. They are idealistic and the themes frequently depicted are those related to Buddhism, such as the Buddha's life stories, stories of the three worlds (heaven, earth and 1

hell), and also those concerning customs and traditions. The subjects of the paintings reflect different purposes: to beautify and dignify the places of worship, to promote Buddhism, and to educate people through pictures.

CourtCulture: Architecture Apart from the royal palace buildings, classical Thai architecture can be found in monastic monuments, pagodas and temples which have been the focal points of Thai community activities for centuries. Admitting Indian, Khmer and other influences such as Chinese and Burmese, Thai architects developed their own distinctive style of sloping multitiered roof-tops and soaring pointed towers, intricately ornamented with carved wood and stucco, gilded lacquer work, mother-of-pearl inlay, Chinese porcelain fragments and colour glass mosaic. Under the tropical sun, these buildings give out an artistic harmony of flamboyanceandserenity.

Court Culture:Sculpture Thai sculpture is concentrated on Buddha images that rank among the world's greatest expressions of Buddhist art. As a result, it is widely believed that the Buddha images in Thailand, from the Chiang Saen Period (11-13th c.) to the present Rattanakosin or Bangkok Period, are so numerous that they far outnumber the population of the country. Made in wood, metals, ivory, precious stones and stucco, they have been created to represent Rattanatrai of Buddhism, i.e., Buddha, Dharma (the Buddha's doctrine) and Sanga (Buddhist clergy). Among the most beautiful Buddha images in Thailand are Phra Buddha Chinnarat in Wat Mahathat (Phitsanulok province) and Phra Buddha Chinnasi in Wat Bowon Niwet (Bangkok).

Court Culture:Literature

In the early days, Thai literature was concerned with religion, royalty and aristocracy and hardly anything else. They were written in verse of various patterns. Then, in the early 20th century, King Rama VI made a revolution in Thai literary history.Prose has become a favourite form of writing among Thai writers since then, and common life scenes have been depicted in their works. One of the most important Thai literary pieces is the Ramakian, an epic derived from the Ramayana of India.

Let us start this section with some parts of the Classic Poem: A Poet’s Pledge by Angkarn Kalayanapong, translated from Thai into English by Chamnongsri L. Rutnin...

A Poet’s Pledge I shall refuse Nirvana And suffer the circling wheel or rebirths To translate the multitudes of wonders Into poems dedicated to this universe.

To cleanse the human world of sorrows Until peace glows into a golden age; 2

Then shall my ashes with earth integrateA calcified fossil keeping watch If this world were barren of poetry Then farewell, dear human race, I would leave to build a realm of the mind When jewels of rainbow verses.

I shall enchant the celestial realms With priceless wealth of poetry My spiritual merits in the arts Shall outlast time’s infinity.

(The S.E.A. Write Anthology, Thai Short Stories & Poems, edited by Nitaya Masavisut, Matthew Gross, Silkworms Books, Chiang Mai, 1998, pp. 107-109) Court Culture:Drama In the purely classical form, Thai drama and dance are indivisible. The techniques of dancing are of Indian origin, but Thai people evolved them to be much more graceful and slow in motion. Thai dramas include renowned khon (the masked drama), lakhon (a less formal dance drama with movements more graceful than khon), nang yai and nang talung (shadow plays) and hun (marionettes). In former days, dramas were normally performed only in the royal courts and noble mansions. Ordinary people could enjoy such performances only on festive occasions in the compound of a Buddhist monastery.

CourtCulture:Music Thai classical music uses the diatonic music scale. The instruments are of four kinds: Those of plucking, drawing, percussion and woodwind. Apart from drama, Thai classical music is played in some religious ceremonies, traditional rites and on festive occasions.

TraditionalCulture By traditional culture we mean customs concerning agriculture and human relations, and the art of making daily necessities such as utensils, clothing and basketry. The basis of the Thai customs and traditions lies in the family, whose structure is of bilateral descent. Like the Chinese and some other Asian peoples, the young are taught to pay respect to and follow the admonitions of parents, elders, teachers and Buddhist monks who, in the old days, formed a highly educated class. When speaking about traditional Thai culture, what cannot be left unmentioned is the wat or Buddhist temple and monastery combined. After Buddhism had been spread throughout Thailand for hundreds of years, the primitive animist belief of the Thai people was assimilated by the Buddhist one. The wat became the centre of the village. It was the place where people received education, attended rites and ceremonies, and observed 3

feasts and festivals all the year round. Nowadays, due to the rapid advancement of technology, the traditional Thai way of living, especially in the big cities, has inevitably changed. However, it is still preserved to a large extent in the faraway rural areas where modern civilization has failed to penetrate.

LinguisticCulture The Thai language, or Phasa Thai, basically consists of monosyllable words, whose meanings are complete by themselves. Its alphabet was created by King Ramkhamhaeng the Great in 1283 by modelling it on the ancient Indian alphabets of Sanskrit and Pali through the medium of the old Khmer characters. After a history of over 700 years, the Thai alphabet today comprises 44 letters (including 2 obsolete ones), representing 20 consonant phonemes, and 15 vowel signs, denoting 22 vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs.

As Thai is a tonal language with five different tones, it often confuses foreigners who are unused to this kind of language. For example, they have difficulty in distinguishing these 3 words from each other : "suea" with a rising tone, "suea" low tone and "suea" falling tone which means a tiger, a mat and clothes respectively.

Like most languages of the world, the Thai language is a complicated mixture of several sources. Many Thai words used today were derived from Pali, Sanskrit, Khmer, Malay, English and Chinese.

Indian Influence on Thai Culture Let us begin this part with this poem by Kamala Das (b. 1934) An Introduction I don’t know politics but I know the names Of those in power, and can repeat them like Days of week, or names of months, beginning with Nehru. I am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar, I speak three languages, write in Two, dream in one. Don’t write in English, they said, English is not your mother tongue, Why not leave Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins, Every one of you? Why not let me speak in Any language I like? The language I speak Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses All mine, mine alone. It is half English, half Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest, It is as human as I am human, don’t You see?...

(Indian Poetry in English, edited by Makarand Paranjape, 2009, p. 141) Thailand had been influenced by Indian cultural, linguistic and religious factors.

Formerly, Thailand was known as Siam. According to the historical evidence the capital city was destroyed during the war with Burma. The former capital of Thailand was known as Ayuthaya. This is obvious that the famous Indian epic Ramayana had an impact even on the name of the ancient Thai capital. Ramayana in Thailand was known as Ramakien. Lord Rama's name was considered as a sacred name and used by the rulers of Chakari dynasty who

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used it with their names. This shows how the Indian epic influenced mind and morals of the Thai society.

The scenes of Ramayana are well portrayed with attractive colours in the paintings on the temple walls. Outside the temples the sculptures of Ramayana are beautifully depicted.

Guarding the temples is normal in all Hindu beliefs. Similarly in Thailand there are guardian figures with the real Thai architecture outside the temples within the temple premises. These temple guards with stern looks resembling Asuras or Rakshathas. Similarly the influence of Ramayana could be seen on the walls of the palaces where the scenes of the Ramayana are embossed. Beside this the religious influences of India, Hindu and Buddhist religious worship also could be seen throughout Thailand. The Hindu god Brahma is worshipped among the Hindus of Thailand. According to Hindu mythology, the lord Brahma the creator of universe is believed to have enacted the fifth Veda in Hinduism - Natya Veda. The idol of lord Bhrama could be seen everywhere including in the premises of private homes and private institutions.

A small shrine (a symbol of worshipping place) is installed in most homes. Everyday this idol is worshipped with flowers, fruits and lightened lamp. A Brahmin priest selects the location where the small shrine should be installed and in which direction the idol should face. Such type of home worship is quite common and familiar among the South Asia and South East Asian customs and culture.

In Thailand, we select and sing the Thirupavai and Tiruvempavai songs in the temples and in the auspicious functions and during the festivals from ancient times. Beside this, Thailand is a land which follows Buddhism and Hinduism. Ancient Pali and Sanskrit and Tamil language had a great impact on the Thai language. Similarly Indian Hindu influence can be traced in the ritual dances, folk dances and traditional dances. Lakhon is a dance form which is practised in open Buddhist temple compounds. Most of their dances, dramas, and dance dramas are based on Ramayana. Sometimes they use these dances and dance dramas to drive out evil spirits. Another remarkable feature in Thai dance is that all the roles are played by women, except that of the clown. To play the characteristic role of devas, asuras, (demons) and monkeys they wear the masks. Beautiful flexible body movements, floating positions and sinuous body positions could be seen in most of the Thai dances. Beautiful hand movements are used to expound the meaning of the song. There is a particular variety of mask drama called Khon. The theme of this drama is always based on Ramayana. In such drama only males take part. Similarly other dance dramas are Lakhon Nore and Lakhon Chattri. In these dance dramas only men take part, which clearly shows the close links between the South Indian dance drama forms. Main themes of these dance dramas are based on Ramayana or Mahabharatha.

Historical Links Historically, the cultural and economic interaction between the two countries can be traced to roughly around the 6th Century B.C. However, direct contact can be said to have begun only in the 3rd Century B.C. when King Asoka sent Buddhist monks to propagate Buddhism in the Indo-Chinese peninsula. Besides Buddhism, Thailand has also adopted other typically Indian religious and cultural traditions. The ceremonies and rites especially as regards the ‘Monarchy’ evidence a strong Hinduism. Buddhism as a religion promotes liberty and freedom. It respects the rights of a person to his/her beliefs and practices. India and Thailand are basically tolerant counties, partly because of the influence of Buddhism. Though Buddhism all but vanished from India, its best precepts have been adopted by and incorporated into Hinduism. Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of Ahimsa or Non-violence 5

echoes the teachings of the Lord Buddha. It is interesting to note that though both countries have one religion, which is adhered to by an overwhelming majority of the total population, both permit and promote all religious communities and beliefs.

Buddhism thus proclaims that selfishness and desire bring only suffering and one must work to eliminate them. Love and compassion towards one’s fellow men bring happiness and peace of mind. Through the centuries, Buddhism has been the mainstay of Thai cultural development and has inspired every sphere of Thai life particularly architecture, sculpture, painting and early literature. In fact it is a customary practice for young men above 20 years of age to be ordained into the Buddhist order for a period of approximately three to five months at least.

Moreover, Thailand has also been influenced by other typically Indian religious traditions, besides Buddhism. These are Hinduism, Islam and Sikkhism.

The Indians who moved into Thailand in the Sukhothai period (1275-1350) were either merchants who came to Siam or Thailand, for the purpose of trading or Brahmans who played an important role in the Siamese court as experts in astrology and in conducting ceremonies. The first group of Indian Brahmans who entered Siam before the founding of Sukhothai as the first capital of Siam (1275 – 1350) popularized Indian beliefs and traditions.

During the Sukhothai period Brahman temples already existed. Brahmans conducted ceremonies in the court. The concepts of divine kingship and royal ceremonies are clear examples of the influence of Brahmanism.

The ceremonies of Coronation of Thai kings are practiced more or less in its original form even up to the present reign. The Thai idea that the king is a reincarnation of the Hindu deity Vishnu was adopted from Indian tradition. Though this belief no longer exists today, the tradition to call each Thai king of the present Chakri dynasty Rama (Rama is a reincarnation of Vishnu) with an ordinal number, such as Rama I, Rama II etc. is still in practice. In the Ayutthaya period (1350-1767), more Indian merchants entered the South of the country by boat as evidenced by the statues of Hindu gods excavated in the South.

After the year 1855, the Indians who migrated to Thailand can be classified into three groups according to the religion they believed in, namely, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism.

Those who practiced Hinduism came from the North and South of India and the Punjab. Few northern Hindus engaged in trade in Thailand. Some who were well educated worked in Indian or British companies while others worked as middlemen between Indian merchants and government agencies or as exporters and importers. The poorer and uneducated ones made a living by selling cow milk or newspapers or by working as servants and watchmen.

The Hindus from the South of India were mostly Tamilians. They became teachers and company officers in Thailand. Those with a good financial status did Jewelry and export business. The temple, which is the center of faith of Thai Hindus, is Maha Uma Devi Temple or Wat Khaek in Silom District in Bangkok.

Those from Punjab traded in textiles in Phahurat and Sampheng Districts. Their religious center is Devasathan or temple in the Giant Swing District, Bangkok. There are many sects in Brahmanism-Hinduism, each having a different supreme god but with the same highest goal to attain salvation. The religion teaches that ‘karma’, i.e. the totality of a person’s actions in his or her former and present life, plays a significant role in the humans’ fate, a belief very similar in content to Buddhism. According to this philosophy, both 6

happiness and sorrow in the present life are a consequence of actions in one’s past life.

Muslims from India are mixed with those from Persia, the Malay Peninsula and Khmer in Thailand. It is hard to distinguish them from one another. Muslims live mostly in the Southern province bordering Malaysia. Indian Muslims were engaged in trading and agriculture in Thailand. In Bangkok, they mostly inhabited Si Phraya District. Some merchants settled on the west Bank of the Chao Phraya River. Affluent Muslims owned jewelry, stationery and import & export business.

The Indian Sikhs migrated from Northwest India, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Pakistan-occupied-Punjab. They went to Thailand with the hope of a commercially prosperous life. Today, many of them do textile business in Sampheng and Phahurat Disricts. Their religious center is Guru Singh Sabha located in Phahurat. The Sikhs believe in one supreme God. According to Sikh tradition God’s purpose in allowing us to be born into a human form is for the human being to return and become one with God. Conclusion India and Thailand have enjoyed a close and mutually enriching relationship for over a millenium and the friendship seems to be growing by leaps and bounds even to this present day. This close and cordial relationship between India and Thailand is rooted in centuries of continuous interaction. The importance of the influence of Indian culture on the development of Thai culture cannot be over emphasized. Thailand’s relationship with India spans over a thousand years and understandably this resulted in an adaptation of Indian culture to suit the Thai environment. Evidence of strong religious, cultural and linguistic links abound. The single most significant cultural contribution of India, for which Thailand is greatly indebted to India, is 'Buddhism’. Propagated in Thailand in the 3rd Century B.C. by Buddhist monks sent by King Asoka, it was adopted as the state religion of Thailand and has ruled the hearts and minds of Thais ever since. Presently 58,000,000 Thais, an overwhelming 94% of the total Thai populace adheres to Buddhism. Due to King Asoka’s missionary zeal Buddhism quickly spread out through the length and breadth of Asia particularly to China, Japan, Myanmar, Laos, Kampuchea, Vietnam and Thailand. Tradition credits the Indian Bhikkus Sona and Uttara sent by King Asoka by introducing Buddhism to Thailand.

Currently, many Indian descendants still zealously retain their customs and traditions, adhering strictly to the religious tenets of their faith. According to the latest statistics of the Department of Religious Affairs, there are 21, 125 Sikhs, Brahmans and Hindu is Thailand.

Muslims are around 2,977,434 in number.

To really conclude here, let me end my paper with the poem I love most by Samuel Johnson in his Rasselas: If I had the choice of my life, I should be able to fill every day with pleasure.

I would injure no man, and should provoke no resentment; I would relieve every distress, And should enjoy the benedictions of gratitude.

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I would choose my friends among the wise, And my wife among the virtuous; and therefore, should be in no danger from treachery or unkindness.

(I Left My Love in Delhi, Dhirawit Natthagarn, 2011, Back Cover)

References Books Das, K. My Story. 2009. New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers India.

Masavisut, N., Gross, M. (Editor). 1998. The S.E.A. Write Anthology, Thai Short Stories & Poems. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworms Books.

Natthagarn, D. 2011. I Left My Love In Delhi. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand: English Club of Nakhon Ratchasima.

Paranjape, M.(Editor). 2009. Indian Poetry in English. Delhi: MacMillan Publishers India Limited.

Online Connectivity Beyond Indo Thai Relations Ages by Lipi Ghosh ... https://www.abebooks.com/book.../connectivity...indo-thai.../lipi-ghosh/ Historical Ties India And Thailand - eSamskriti https://www.esamskriti.com/.../Historical-Ties-India-and-Thailand-1.aspx India-Thailand Relations. - Embassy of India, Bangkok - Thailand www.indianembassy.in.th/relationpages.php?id=123 Indian Hindu influence on Thai culture - DailyNews Archives archives.dailynews.lk/2004/06/30/artscop12.html Thai Cultures - Thaiways Magazine www.thaiwaysmagazine.com/thai_cultures/ The Indian influence on Thai culture in the Thai Ramayana / Srisurang ... catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1607903

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