Detailed and colorful murals of the Grand Palace

Grand Palace murals

Murals depicting the Ramakien

Among the most attractive and beautiful things to see in the Grand Palace are the murals on the walls surrounding the Emerald Buddha temple. The mural paintings depict the story of the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Indian epic the Ramayana.

Ramakien gallery

The Wat Phra Kaew, the temple of the Emerald Buddha, is surrounded by walls. On the walls are colorful paintings depicting the Ramakien, a classic story about the battle of good versus evil.

Over 2 kilometers of murals

The murals are painted on 178 panels, each one depicting a scene from the Ramakien. The first panel is opposite the Spired Hall. To view the whole story, follow the panels in a clockwise direction. All together the murals span a length of more than two kilometers.

A battle scene from the Ramakien depicted on the walls surrouding the Wat Phra Kaew at the Grand Palace in Bangkok

Battle scene
Detail from the Ramakien epic

First painted in 1783

The murals were first painted in 1783, when the temple of the Emerald Buddha was built by King Rama I. The King adapted and partly rewrote the Ramakien story. Since then the paintings have been extensively restored four times.

The Ramakien story

The Ramakien is a story about the triumph of good over evil.

The main characters
The main characters of the Ramakien story are Rama, Sida and Tosakanth. Rama is the crown prince of the Ayodhaya Kingdom. He is portrayed as a very virtuous person. Sida is Rama’s wife. She is virtuous and pure. Tosakanth is the King of the demons. The 10-faced and 20-handed giant demon is portrayed as evil.

A detailed mural of a chariot drawn by fighters during the battle between Rama and Tosakanth

Detailed mural of a chariot drawn by fighters
Battle between Rama and Tosakanth

Rama goes into exile
Rama is to become the next King of Ayodhaya. Because of the jealousy of his step mother Kaikeyi who wants her own son to be King, he is sent into exile for 14 years. Accompanied by his wife Sida and his brother Lakshman they live in the forest and live off the land.

Tosakanth kidnaps Sida
Tosakanth, the demon King of Longka kidnaps Sida. He takes her to Longka city hoping that she will fall in love with him, which she does not.

The battle
When Rama hears about Sida’s abduction, he decides to fight Tosakanth to get his wife back. Together with his brother Lakshman and the monkey King Hanuman they travel to Longka with a large army. A battle between Tosakanth’s army and Rama’s army of monkey warriors unfolds.

Rama crowned King
In the end good triumphs over evil. Tosakanth is defeated and Rama takes Sida back to Ayodhaya, the capital of his Kingdom. Rama is crowned King and rules the Ayodhaya Kingdom with Sida.

Wat Phra Kaew

Emerald Buddha Temple
Murals surround the Wat Phra Kaew

GET DETAILS

Khon and Nang Yai

Both Khon masked dance and Nang Yai shadow play are derived from the Ramakien.

Khon masked dance
Khon is a traditional masked dance performance based on the Ramakien. Wearing elaborately adorned masks and costumes, the dancers convey the emotions of the scenes through expressions with their hands, fingers, feet and body.

You can watch a Khon masked dance performance at the Sala Chalermkrung Royal theatre in Bangkok.

Nang Yai shadow play
Nang Yai is the Thai version of shadow puppet play. Similar to the shadow puppet plays of Indonesia, dolls cast a shadow on the screen.