These guys were featured in the last post, but this is a slightly closer up of the same guys- click on the photo and it should get bigger for you- to see the detail in the painting is really quite amazing.
I was completely enthralled with this series of painting. Okay to be truthful I was enthralled with ALL of the painting I saw on the Wat walls, but this in particular stood out. This is the first time I'd seen any references to mermaids or merpeople in Asian art. This is something I'd only ever seen or heard of in European and American folklore. To be truthful, I really don't know much asian folklore- except I sort of learned the story of "Nian" and Chinese New Year about a month ago, but I'm sure I'll need to read it about a dozen more times before I remember it enough to re-tell it. So I guess what I should really say is I do NOT know any chinese or asian folktales. Hmm...that may be a project for me! Maybe I can learn the stories of some of these paintings in this way?
Dragons of course play a very big part in Asian mythology...as do interactions between Gods and Humans. Beyond those two things and the aforementioned story of Nian, that sums up my knowledge of asian mythology.
This painting was actually quite large- the giant dog-demon-guy seems to be eating lots of little guys, a bit like a Gulliver or David & Goliath sort of tale perhaps. The moral being the big giant monster trying to swallow up the whole town perhaps....and the idea of the little people being able to overcome a monster despite it's size...sounds like a familiar story...
There was a monk re-wrapping his robe that was so interesting to watch...
I had to do several "shots off the hip" since he turned around occasionally, this was one of the more fortunate ones. Now you see the age in his face and in his body, you can understand why the Monk dressing was a 15-20 minute event. I probably only watched for around 10 minutes, but I think he had been at it for a bit before I arrived, and still was not finished when I left.
Apparently it's also not the easiest thing to wrap yourself in a Monks robe. There is this tight twist which goes over the shoulder and tucks under one arm.
But beyond making the long twist and keeping it twisted, it's a huge piece of fabric, and there is a lot of wrapping involved. The wonderful bright orange really stuck out against the gold of the palace behind him.
These appeared to be a few more buildings at the grand palace, although we did not go in either of them. I believe the further one is the one which was closed for non-Thai people.
The one building was closed because the King's sister, the Princess, passed away in January and her body is laying in state there for 120 days so that mourners may pay their respect. There are strict rules for who can visit the building where the Princess is laying in state- first you must be Thai, second you must have long sleeves and either long pants or a long skirt, and finally you must be dressed fully in black. You could see many Thai people dressed in black who had come to pay their respects. But the other reason I took this photo was the sweet sweet elderly woman in the center holding a younger woman's hand. She was actually holding another woman's hand on the other side, but she is obscured by another woman. I know it's such a tourist thing to take a photo of an extraordinarily short woman, but I guess that is my weakness- and I was specifically only taking a photo when she was not looking at me...I guess I chalk it up to the many many photos of myself taken with random asian tourists who saw me and asked if they could get their photo taken with me. I have no idea how many photo albums in asia my face is in, but I know it has to be at least a couple dozen...
1 comment:
Looking at the monk wrap, I was reminded of Christo's "The Curtains" in NYC - same vibrant orange. Your post also reminded me of when we were touring Java over a decade ago. Assuredly, the Goob and I are in Indonesian scrapbooks, too. It's odd to have strangers ask to have their photo taken with you, isn't it?
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