Another Day, Another Ayodhya

On a tumultuous night, the invaders armed with the deadliest of weaponsattacked with the only aim: ‘Destruction of Ayodhya’. They plundered,looted, destroyed art treasures, libraries, ancient manuscripts including theoriginal version of "Ramayana", religious scriptures, devastated palaces,massacred as many citizens as they could, drove away others, captured severaltens of thousands as slaves, demolished temples, mutilated venerated idols fromwithin leaving them headless or limbless, carried away or melted other goldenstatues and idols. And with a final war whoop, they set fire to the city ofAyodhya and went back gloating in their victory upon destruction.

Ayodhya burned.

This was ‘Ayuthaya dahanam’.

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It was on the fateful night of April 7th 1767 that the above happenedin Thailand when their traditional enemy, Burma marauded mercilessly the city ofAyuthaya (Spelling as transcripted from Thai language), the capital of the ThaiKingdom.

The South-East Asian nation-kingdom of Thailand although professing to abideby Theravada Buddhism, has undeniably strong classic Hindu elements in beliefand practice. Thai history is usually classed into the early ‘Dvaravathi’,followed by ‘Sukhothai’, ‘Ayuthaya’, and ‘Bangkok’ periods. Theelements of Indian civilization that kindled the rise of the Thai kingdoms gotgradually fused with typically localized ‘Thai’ elements as time went by.

It is the ‘Ayuthaya’ period that would capture the interest of any Indiantoday.

The city of Ayuthaya is located about 70 km north of Bangkok. KingRamathibodi who named it after the birthplace of Lord Rama founded it in 1350.He envisaged "Ramarajya" for his Kingdom, as the King was "Devaraja"or "God King", particularly Vishnu incarnate.

Ayuthaya was a glorious, wealthy and flourishing island-city located at theconfluence of three rivers, the Chao Phraya, the Pasak, and the Lopburi. It wasthe envy of not only its neighbors but also visiting and trading Europeans. Ithoused a population of 1 million comprising not just Thais but people belongingto some 40 nationalities. The French visitor Jean de Lacombe has recorded in awethat the palace of the King, Lord Rama Incarnate according to the Thais, "Is adwelling worthy of an Emperor of the whole world". In its heydays it has beenrecorded by outside observers that Ayuthaya city was so magnificent that Londonat the time seemed a mere village in comparison.

Ayuthaya had an unbroken succession of Kings ruling over it for well over 400years, until its sack by the Burmese in 1767. However, the divine elements wereso to say in its favor, as Burma did not get to occupy Thailand (or Siam as itwas called then), but had to scramble home to defend itself against the invadingmight of the Chinese army.

It was exemplary vision and courageous leadership that mustered the shatteredlives from Ayuthaya to form a new Thai Kingdom away from the ruins. When thepressures of creating a new Kingdom overwhelmed the leader, it was his Generalwho assumed the reigns of Kingship, the founder of the present "Chakri"dynasty, King Rama I. To this day the Chakri dynasty has ruled overThailand. The present King is Rama-IX in succession - the longest reigningmonarch in today’s world.

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With the burning of Ayuthaya, faith or future did not die for the Thais.Instead of squandering national interests, orientation, money, efforts and timethe Thais mobilized their minds, hearts, strengths and energies towardsproductive engagement erasing any thoughts of destructive vendetta or rebuildingon the ruins.

The Thais were bent on showing their enemies and proving to themselves thatthey were absolutely capable of recovering from such devastative destruction andhumbling humiliation to rebuild a more powerful nation - a nation that wouldnever be subjugated to any alien power ever.

Thailand is the only country in our neighborhood that has never beencolonized.

The Thais with utmost determination decided that they wouldn’t bevulnerable for exploitation by outsiders. When European invasion was in fullforce, Thailand received ambassadors from them as well as missionaries. Theylearnt English and other European languages, adopted modern technology andmethods for developing their Kingdom and so on, but did not succumb to pressuresof any sort.

King Rama IV is quoted as having told one of his missionary friends, who inthe guise of imparting education wanted to convert the Thais, in no uncertainterms: "What you teach us to do is admirable, but what you teach us to believeis foolish".

Today, Christians amount to only one per cent of the entire nation (predominantlyChinese-Thais). Muslims who are mainly localized in the southernmost part ofThailand adjoining Malaysia compose about 4% of the population. Although,Buddhism is the national religion, the Thai constitution states that the countryis secular with the King benevolent on all his subjects following any formalfaith.

 Even though Ayuthaya was razed to the ground, neither did the religiousfervor of the Thais suffer nor was there any damage done to the legacy of Rama.

On the contrary, the Thais believe the "Chakri" (or Vishnu Chakra-"Wheel") dynasty has given them an unbroken succession of Ramaincarnates so that they may be ruled over by his divine blessings. Thedestruction of Ayuthaya did not bring an end to "Ramarajya" butthe ‘Bangkok’ period that arose soon afterwards is referred to as "Ratanakosin"or gem of an era in the history of the Thais. King Rama IX’s residence isnamed Chitralada. The Thai national and royal emblem is the Vishnu vahanaof Garuda. Royal Thai titles when passed on over fivegenerations tend to cease, after which a Royal is given the title "naAyuthaya" or as a descendent "Of Ayuthaya".

It is interesting to note the pervasive influence of Hinduism in Thailandeven today. The Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu are worshipped withunrelenting reverence.

Vishnu and his avatar of Rama are obviously the most revered of all.The walls of the magnificent Temple next to the King’s Grand Palace have muralscenes from the entire story of Ramayana painted on them. This temple was modelledclosely on the destroyed Ayuthaya temple. Rama’s Sita has not been forgotteneither. In the "Royal Field", north of the temple, that is the traditionalsite for royal cremations and for the royal ‘Ploughing ceremony’, a statueof Mae Thorani ("Mother Earth") stands on a white pavilion.

As the original manuscript containing the Ramayana was burnt in Ayuthaya’scarnage, King Rama I wrote the Thai version of Ramayana called Ramakienin a poetic format. His son, Rama II, penned a much shorter adaptation of it. Itis this story that is the main feature in classical Thai dance-drama to thisday.

When we read some of the verses of the Thai National Anthem, theirsingle-minded devotion to their motherland stands out in their unity andself-pride.

The Thai Nation, " has maintained its rule because the Thais have alwaysbeen united";

" They shall not allow others to take away their freedom".

The Thais did not forgive nor forget what happened to Ayuthaya, but focussedtheir faith and force upon themselves.

Today, Ayuthaya is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ruins are beingmaintained by the Thai Government's Fine Arts Department, and funding is alsoobtained from the UN for restoration projects. The temples, idols, palaces etc.,have not been reconstructed but have been repaired for rendering them safe forvisitors. Ayuthaya is a center now visited by tourists keen on observing theravages of history upon it.

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Much as a parallel cannot be drawn between Thailand and India on the issue ofAyodhya, India surely has a lesson here to learn from our small, sensible andsprightly neighbour.

Muslims destroyed Hindu temples in India in the distant past. Eleven yearsago, Hindus demolished a Muslim structure.

Indians had better hand over the disputed area to the UN and get on withtheir lives.

All Indians, irrespective of their religious affiliations, need to unite forfocussing on the national agenda of becoming a power to reckon with in today’sworld, rather than use and misuse Ayodhya for political, religious and socialreasons.

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I remember while on a visit to Ayuthaya, I asked an elderly Thai gentleman:

"Aren’t you enraged at what the Burmese did to your Capital? Don’t youwant Ayuthaya to be rebuilt?"

" Mai pen rai" ("Never mind") he mumbled with typicalThai graciousness and a faraway look in his eyes.

He then looked up and asked with his eyes dancing mischievously, "Aren’twe Thais better off now than our enemies? My son tells me that we are called oneof the ‘Asian Tigers’?"

The Thais have learnt that history does not seek answers in the politics ofhatred.

For the Thais the ruins of Ayuthaya serve as a constant grim reminder of pastnational tragedy, and serve to spur them on towards greater self-establishmentand self-enhancement.

The writer is a Social Anthropologist from the University of Madras. She usedto teach "Thai Studies" at a Bangkok University for many years. She nowlives in Sydney, Australia.