Ramayana in Cambodian Sanskrit Inscriptions, Sculptures, Ramleela & Paintings (An Exploration of a Forgotten Glory of Ramayana in Cambodia)

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This book aims to unveil the greatness of the Ramayana story and the way it spread and influenced the Khmer culture. Ramayaņa story of India, first composed in Sanskrit, had entered the whole of South East Asia, and other countries due to its great merits and elegant literary qualities. Ramayaņa is called Ramakian in Thailand and Reamker or Rämakerti in Cambodia. Sculptures and paintings based on Ramayaņa can be found in many temples and palaces of Cambodia. The Cambodian version of Ramayaņa is quite interesting, which helps understand Cambodian culture and highlights the similarities and association of Khmer culture with ancient Indian culture.

The Indian epic poem Ramayaņa has exercised an influence in Cambodia for more than a millennium. A seventh- century Sanskrit inscription of Veal Kantal from Stung Treng, mentions daily recitations of Indic writings donated to the sanctuary, including the Ramayaņa. Epigraphical and artistic evidences also show that the story was well-known to Cambodians in the Angkorian period. Carved narrative reliefs illustrating elements of the epic Ramayaņa are widespread, occurring at the Banteay Srei, Baphuon, Thommanon, and Banteay Samre, to name but a few prominent temples. Several painted representations of the Reamker still exist.

This book tries to present the material on the spread of Ramayaņa in Cambodia and gives details of the Khmer Version of Ramayaņa, including the wooden carvings, and Paintings of Ramayaņa on Buddhist Pagodas of Cambodia. It explores the spread of Sanskrit Inscriptions, and Ramleela etc. Yet it is hard to say if this publication can give a complete information on the popularity of Ramayaņa in Cambodia as it was prepared in a limited time frame. We hope readers will enjoy this book and give their valuable suggestions.

Professor C. Upendra Rao is a recognized scholar in the field of Sanskrit and Indian Studies. He is a Professor in the School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was the Chairperson of the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, and a member of the Executive and academic councils of J N U. He specialized in Sanskrit Literature, Poetics, Pali, and Buddhist Studies. Prof. Rao was a Visiting Professor in Cambodia on ICCR's Buddhist and Sanskrit studies Chair, established by the Govt. of India in Cambodia. He completed 15 years as a full Professor, edited, and authored 30 books, and penned a good number of research papers in Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Telugu, and English languages, engaged in research on Indian studies, received awards and certificates of honours from various institutions.

He has multidimensional contributions in the fields of Sanskrit and Pali studies. He received three gold medals from Osmania University and Banaras Hindu University for outstanding academic performance. He was a visiting professor at Latvia University, Riga, Latvia; National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Kyiv, Ukraine; and L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan. He delivered lectures in Lithuania in 2018, and his three Sanskrit poems are translated into Russian, Bulgarian, and Kazak languages. Prof. Rao has won the prestigious MG Dhadphale Excellence Award for creative writing (khanda kavyam) in Pali for the year 2023.

He visited Cambodia in the year of 2016 for teaching Sanskrit and Pali on the ICCR chair. and later he continued to visit Cambodia and other countries in Southeast Asia for Ramayana, and Sanskrit inscriptional research, and as a result, he brings out this valuable book on Ramayaņa.

This book aims to show the world how the great Indian Ramayaņa story was spread and influenced the Khmer culture in Cambodia. Ramayaņa story of India, which is in Sanskrit, had entered the whole of South East Asia due to its great historical significance and elegant literary qualities. All these countries, including Cambodia, had indigenized the story of Ramayana according to their native cultures. Ramayaņa is called Ramakian in Thailand and Reamker or Rämakerti in Cambodia. Sculptures and paintings based on Ramayaņa can be found in many temples and palaces in Cambodia and Thailand. The Cambodian version of Ramayaņa is quite interesting because it is helpful to understand Cambodian culture and highlights the similarities and association of Khmer culture with ancient Indian culture. Being inspired by the richness of Välmīki Ramayaņa, three Cambodian scholars have composed a Khmer version of Ramayaņa. But it took three centuries for them to write this Khmer version of Ramayana. The Khmer version of Ramayaņa had been divided into two parts. The first one is based on the Balakanda and Ayodhya kanda of Välmīki Ramayaņa. The second part contains the story of Uttarakanda. Cambodians had contemplated how to render such a long text of Ramayaņa into Khmer. It was not an easy task for them because the Välmīkī's Sanskrit epic of Ramayana contains more than 24,000 verses. Therefore, the Khmer authors, like other Southeast Asians, have condensed the story of Ramayaņa into 5,000 verses.

The Indian epic poem Ramayaņa has exercised an influence in Cambodia for more than a millennium. A seventh-century Sanskrit inscription of Veal Kantal, [K. 359] from Stung Treng, mentions daily recitations of a clutch of Indic writings donated to the sanctuary, including the Ramayana.