Burmese Ramayana (with an English Translation of the Original Palm Leaf Manuscript in Burmese Language in 1233 Year of Burmese Era (1871 A.D.)

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This book contains an anthology of the author's research papers concerning the Burmese Ramayana and an English translation, for the first time, of the Burmese Ramayana from the original Palm Leaf Manuscript written in Burmese language.

The content of Burmese Ramayana differs considerably from Valmiki Ramayana and other Ramayanas of India. However, the basic structure, the order of arrangement and main motifs are fundamentally similar with those of Valmiki.

This book gives an opportunity to the readers to read Burmese Ramayana translated directly from the Burmese original.

OHNO TORU received his Ph.D. degree in Linguistics from Kyoto University, Japan in 1965. Currently, he is serving as professor, Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Osaka University of Foreign Studies, Osaka, Japan.

It was 1992 when I started, for the first time, to study the contents of the indigenous versions of Ramayana prevalent in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thai, Cambodia and Burma. The well-known versions of Rama story from the region were collected by me either in original or in duplicate copy. They consist of Ramayana Kakawin of Java, Hikayat Sri Rama of Malaysia, Ramakien of Thai, Reamker of Cambodia, Phra Lak Phra Lam of Laos and Rama Yagan of Burma. In addition to them, the minor and local versions of Rama story though very little is known about them, were also available to gather, thanks to many colleagues from the region. It was quite valuable for me to be able to obtain the copies of Maharadia Lawana from Philippines, Lanka Xihe from Yunnan, China, Loik Samoing Ram of Mon, Batara Rama in Sundanese, and Serat Rama of Medieval Java. As a matter of course, it became obvious that though the Southeast Asian Ramayanas share the basic structure and the main plot with Valmiki Ramayana, they also contain major and minor divergencies from Valmiki.

This book deals with the Burmese Ramayanas, which are, of course, well known to the people inside the Burmese community, but not so popular to the people outside the Burmese community.

This book is composed of two sections: the one is a kind of anthology of the author's research papers concerning the Burmese Ramayanas and the other is English translation of Rama Vatthu (Yama Wutthu), which was recently discovered in two Buddhist Temples.

The content of Burmese Ramayana differs considerably from Valmiki Ramayana and any other Ramayanas of India. It is needless to say that the basic structure, the order of arrangement and main motifs are fundamentally similar with those of Valmiki. The readers will, however, be astonished to know the facts that Rama in Burmese Ramayanas is not regarded as the incarnation of Visnu, but of Bodhisattva, and that Surpanakha transforms herself into a golden hind.

**Contents and Sample Pages**