Author: K Subrahmanyam
Publication: The Times
of India
Date: August 19, 2000
Bangkok: Ayutthaya was
a flourishing Buddhist kingdom in Thailand for four centuries from 1350
to 1767. The name was derived from the original Ayodhya of the Raghus on
the banks of the Sarayu. Founded by Ramathibodi I, Ayutthaya became one
of the most powerful kingdoms of South East Asia. One day this kingdom
was invaded and the capital Ayutthaya was subsequently occupied and destroyed
by invading Burmese forces.
Fifteen years later in
1782 Thailand's leading general Chao Phraya Chakkri became king and moved
the capital to Bangkok, to the eastern bank of the river Chao Priya. The
Chakkri rulers adopted the name Rama and today the ninth ruler of that
dynasty occupies the throne as King Bhumibol Adulyadej with the title,
King Rama IX. Though Thailand is Buddhist, the dominant influence of the
Ramayana is as evident here as it is in India - perhaps even more. The
royal palace has scenes from the epic painted on its walk 'Re city of Ayutthaya
had a population of 200,000 and 4,000 Buddhist temples before it was destroyed.
One of these temples contained a very large figure of the Buddha, wholly
gold plated. During the invasion, these temples were looted and the gold
was taken away. The Thais have carried out restoration work and the resplendent
Buddhist temple among the ruins of Ayutthaya is today a major tourist attraction.
The Thai tourist guide
talks about the destruction of the city and kingdom of Ayutthaya in a matter-of-fact
tone and tells us how the 4,000 Buddhist temples destroyed in Ayutthaya
have been rebuilt in Bangkok by the kings of the Chakkri dynasty. The force
that destroyed Ayutthaya and looted and destroyed its temples did not belong
to another religion.
The Ava kingdom in Myanmar
which wrought the havoc were fellow Buddhists. But this did not stop them
from desecrating places of worship of their own faith.
Buddhism is a religion
of compassion. Lord Buddha, whom many Hindus believe to be an incarnation
of Vishnu, preached ahimsa or nonviolence. Then why did this happen in
a war between two Buddhist states? How about Buddhist states and their
clergy today - can we discern the spirit of compassion and tolerance in
them? What about us who proclaimed, Ahimsa Paramo Dharma. Did our kings
and people practise it? Surely not. We have instances of intolerance of
Hindu kings towards Buddhists and Jains and vice versa.
As I was being taken
round the ruins of Ayutthaya, my mind also turned to the other Ayodhya
of Rama in India, which is the centre of both political and religious controversy.
It is amusing that the dynasty which bears the name of Rama has left the
ruins of Ayutthaya alone even while rebuilding one major Buddhist temple
there. The havoc wrought in Ayutthaya showed that when temples are destroyed,
differences in religion need not be the motivating factor. Greed and inhumane
behaviour leads to destruction, regardless of the religion one professes
to believe in. Thailand today is 95 per cent Buddhist. Still, the Thais
are imbued with the history of the Ramayana - perhaps even more so than
we are in India, since we have numerous other gods like Krishna and Siva.
Thailand is not a secular state; it is a Buddhist state where the king
can only be a Buddhist. Yet, he protects all religious faiths.
All temples in Thailand
are maintained in spotless condition unlike a vast majority of the temples
in India. The Thais allow peoples of all faiths to enter their temples
provided the entrants take off their shoes and maintain devotional posture.
Thailand perhaps comes closest to the civilisational culture of the subcontinent.
However, we in the subcontinent have a lot to learn about the maintenance
of temples. The contrast between the happenings at Ayutthaya of Thailand
and Ayodhya of India leaves one puzzled.
The Thais appear to have
come to terms with their history though their grievance is more recent
than the Indian one. Ayutthaya happened nearly three centuries after what
happened in Ayodhya. Grievances from history can never be fully rectified.
However, the Thais are today strong supporters of Myanmar in various international
fora.
Ayutthaya is today a
UN heritage site and thousands of people from all over the world visit
it and learn about the Ramayana, while our Ayodhya is surrounded by tight
security, inaccessible to foreign tourists. The name Rama is associated
with Thai kings and even the most fervent Rama bhakta in India would not
dream of giving the title Rama to our Rashtrapatis. As I sailed back from
Ayutthaya to Bangkok in the Chao Priya river in a modern boat I was haunted
by a question - which is the better way of cherishing the epic Ramayana
and its hero, Rama?
