13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THAI STUDIES GLOBALIZED ? CONNECTIVITY, CONFLICT AND CONUNDRUMS OF THAI STUDIES 15-18 JULY 2017, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

Those Strange-Looking Monks in Phra Malai Manuscript Paintings: Voices of The Text

Brereton, Bonnie Pacala Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Khon Kaen University Thailand ------

Abstract

One of the most popular texts written and illustrated on accordion-folded paper manuscripts (samut khoi) is Phra Malai Klon Suat (PMKS), the vernacular version of the story of the magical monk who travelled to hell and heaven. The miniature paintings in these manuscripts depict key scenes from the story as well as pairs of seated monks sometimes with legs crossed and a talabat in their hands, and others in very unusual postures with strange facial expressions. Several Western various scholars have offered interpretations of these monk figures based on a number of factors: art historical analysis of the paintings, the opinions of other Western scholars, and their own guesses and assumptions. This paper offers a different interpretation of the monks – one that draws on the writings of Thai scholars, interviews with monks, personal communications with people who have sponsored recitations for their deceased relatives, and my experiences of listening to the text being chanted. In addition, other factors include the historical context of the klon suat genre, specific features of the text, the text’s function and usage, and the role of the monks and lay chanters.

Introduction

The story of Phra Malai is known to Buddhists throughout Thailand and exists in numerous versions or “tellings,” a term originally used by A.K. Ramanujan in reference to the many versions of the Ramayana (1991). While all Phra Malai tellings share the same basic sequence of events and are usually written as poetry, it is important to note that they differ in numerous ways, including language/dialect/region, ritual setting in which they are recited, poetic form, and literary style. Key scenes and iconographic images from the narrative are depicted in various genres of painting and sculpture. This paper concerns accordion-folded manuscripts (samut khoi) from the late 18th and 19th centuries containing the popular Phra Malai Klon Suat (PMKS). This version was commonly performed in a variety of melodies and rhythms, originally by monks and later by laypeople at funeral wakes in central and south Thailand. PMKS manuscripts are known for their illustrated paintings of scenes from the narrative and sometimes from funeral wakes, including vignettes of laypeople playing board games and

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13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THAI STUDIES GLOBALIZED THAILAND? CONNECTIVITY, CONFLICT AND CONUNDRUMS OF THAI STUDIES 15-18 JULY 2017, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND monks who sometimes have strange facial expressions and are seated in unusual positions. Western scholars have been puzzled by these figures and referred to them in various negative ways, for example, as depictions of “naughty” monks (Igunma, 2016), as “laymen satirizing ritual chanting” (Skilling and Pakdeekham, 2017: 141), and as a way of contrasting “pious monks” with “lax ones” (Ginsburg 1989: 77). This paper argues that role of the chanters was and still is central to PMKS, as the text was written to be chanted or performed. It was the chanters – whether they were monks or laypeople – who brought the text to life. Rather than being criticized or satirized, the chanters were applauded and appreciated by those sponsoring the manuscripts and funeral wakes for they provided a much-needed service: entertaining and easing the grief of those attending the wake.

The Phra Malai Story44

The gist of the story is as follows. Phra Malai was a saintly monk who lived long ago on the island of Lanka. Because of accrued in past lives, he had supernatural powers like those of the Buddha’s disciple Moggallana that enabled him to fly to the hells to relieve the sufferings of the beings there, and also to heaven. After his visits to the hells, he found the relatives of the suffering beings and asked them to make merit on their behalf so that they could be reborn in a better place. One morning as he was going on his alms rounds, Phra Malai encountered a poor man who looked after his mother and made a living by cutting grass. The man went to bathe in a pond, where he picked eight lotuses and presented them to the monk, asking that he never again be born poor. After accepting the offering, Phra Malai flew to Tavatimsa Heaven to present the lotuses at the Culamani Cetiya, where the hair relic of the Buddha is enshrined. There he met the god Indra, who had built the cetiya, and witnessed the arrival of a series of deities coming to worship the cetiya each surrounded by progressively larger and larger retinues. In each case, Indra told Phra Malai how that deity had earned sufficient merit to be born in heaven. Each had practiced a specific act of dana (generosity), for example, giving food to a bird, presenting offerings to a monk, sponsoring cremations, planting bodhi trees, cleaning the temple grounds, etc. Eventually the bodhisatta Metteya arrived from his abode in Tusita Heaven to worship the reliquary. He asked Phra Malai about the characteristics of the inhabitants of the human realm (the Jambu continent or Chomphudvipa) and the monk replied that they lived in diverse circumstances and made merit in diverse ways, all in the hope of meeting Metteyya when he attained enlightenment as the next Buddha. The bodhisatta then gave Phra Malai the following message: those who wished to meet him should participate fully in the Vessantara Jataka festival in one day and one night, avoid sin and practice dana. Metteyya then described a serious of tumultuous events that will precede his coming: the disappearance of Gotama Buddha’s teachings,45 followed by the degeneration of morality and a period of violence in

44 For a discussion of the sources upon which the basic Phra Malai texts are based see Brereton, 1992 and 1995; Collins, 1993; Denis, 1953 and 1965; and Supaporn Makchang, 1978 and 1981. 45 The teachings are predicted to disappear after they had been in existence for five thousand years. This prophecy is mentioned in earlier sources, both the 14th century King Luethai of Sukhothai and earlier remarks by the great fifth century commentator Buddhaghosa (Coedes, 1957).

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13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THAI STUDIES GLOBALIZED THAILAND? CONNECTIVITY, CONFLICT AND CONUNDRUMS OF THAI STUDIES 15-18 JULY 2017, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND which the vast majority of people will kill each other. However, a small number will retreat into caves and emerge when the carnage is over to form a new society based on morality. Eventually the world will regenerate because of the gradual accumulation of merit made by virtuous people. A utopian age will follow, characterized by perfection in nature and human society. At that time Metteyya will accept the invitation of celestials to be born in the human realm, where he will become enlightened and preach the dhamma. The text ends with Phra Malai’s return to the human realm to deliver this message to the people there.

Phra Malai Klon Suat as a Work of Literature

There are many versions of the Phra Malai story (Brereton, 1992 and 1995). The summary above is what I call the “classical” or unadorned version, as found in the Maleyyadevatthera-vatthu, the Northern Thai Malai Ton-Malai Plai and the Lao Malai Muen-Malai Saen. The latter two paired texts are recited at annual Vessantara Jataka festivals in the north and northeast, respectively. They are inscribed on palm leaf manuscripts, without illustrations, and are read in a perfunctory manner before the recitation of the Jataka. This version is also found in the elaborate “royal version” (Phra Malai Kham Luang), attributed to Ayutthaya Prince Thammathibet. All of these versions of Phra Malai are straightforward and in fact rather unexciting, with no room for humor in either the way they are written or in their recitation, unlike PMKS. PMKS – the version found in illustrated manuscripts – differs in that it contains greatly expanded descriptions of the hells, the sufferings of the hell beings, and the sins they committed which led to these karmic results. The PMKS texts vary little from one manuscript to another, with the only differences being in words or syllables (Priyawat Kuanpoonpol, 1995: 188). It is important to emphasize that this version of Phra Malai was meant to be performed, that is, sung in a variety of melodies and rhythms. PMKS is written in three varieties of a verse form known as kap, which developed out of Cambodian forms based on Sanskrit models.

PMKS in Manuscript Paintings and the So-called “Naughty Monks”

PMKS began to appear in manuscripts in the late 18th century and became the prevalent theme in the 19th century (Ginsburg, 1989: 72). The text is written in the Thai language but in Cambodian letters. Paintings illustrating key scenes from the narrative, such as the poor man presenting the lotuses to Phra Malai, are found on either side of the text on roughly 5-10 percent of the pages. Another pair of paintings depicts two monks in each frame. In some paintings they are seated with legs crossed in the lotus position, holding a talabat in front of them In others, however, they are seated with one knee raised, or less commonly, standing in what appears to be a comic pose of some sort (figs 1 & 2). The latter illustrations and their meaning are the focus of a debate among a small group of scholars. Jana Igunma, the Henry Ginsburg curator at the British Library, in a recent article, referred to the monks as “naughty” and defined the issue as a question of whether the paintings of the monks “are a result of the introduction of artistic realism in Thai painting mirroring the real world, or whether they are evidence of growing freedom of artistic expression, or evidence of the use of manuscript art as propaganda.” Her

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13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THAI STUDIES GLOBALIZED THAILAND? CONNECTIVITY, CONFLICT AND CONUNDRUMS OF THAI STUDIES 15-18 JULY 2017, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND mentor, the late Henry Ginsburg, who conducted pioneering work on Thai manuscripts at the British Library, first suggested that the scenes were used to contrast “pious monks” with “lax ones” (Ginsburg 1989: 77). Eleven years later, however, he referred to the latter as “false monks reciting the Phra Malai text when ordained monks were forbidden from doing so” (2000: 107). Ignuma believes that Ginsburg came to this conclusion after he had access to more Phra Malai manuscripts and realized that most of those “containing illustrations of the ‘naughty monks’ were created after the reforms of Rama I and Rama IV had been implemented” (2016:31).46 The reforms she refers to specifically prohibited, not only eating at night, drinking alcohol, and watching entertainment, but also performing Phra Malai comically” in Cambodian, Chinese, Farang, and Mon melodies” (Virulrak, 1980: 38-43). As I noted earlier (Brereton, 1992 and 1995), comic performances such as these at funeral wakes are mentioned in the writings of numerous Thai scholars.47 Montri Tramot described them as follows: Early in the evening, chanting by four monks would take place at the home of the deceased, in front of the body. The monks would be seated on the floor, in a row, each holding a talabat in front of his face. After first chanting, somber excerpts from the Pali abhidhamma, they would shift to the catchy melodies of Phra Malai sparking a change in the ambiance Sometimes the monks would even abandon the Phra Malai text completely and break into a comedy routine. Moving their talabat aside, they would reveal – to the delight of the funeral goers – made-up faces with false moustaches, glasses, and hats. They would then perform secular melodies lampooning the music of some of the foreign ethnic groups present in Siam at the time, such as Chinese, Malays, and farang (Westerners) (Virulrak, 1980: 38-43). Igunma dismisses these details as “far-fetched” since there are no “historical eye-witness reports [by foreigners].”48 Yet she includes such a scene of monks wearing false moustaches, hats and glasses and playing musical instruments (fig 2) in her article to conclude that:

The trend in 19th century Thai manuscript painting to include more frequently contrasting illustrations of “good” and “bad” monks within one manuscript may point toward an educational or propagandistic purpose of the paintings directed at monks and novices, which seems even more probable in the light of the Dhammayutika reform movement [of King Rama IV] that opposed older or local/ethnic Tai Buddhist traditions. (Igunma, 2016:48). Another interpretation is that of Barend J. Terwiel who asserts that the monks were in a drug-induced state of trance in which “they travelled to the unseen worlds for their community (Terwiel, 2012: 12). Terweil offers no evidence of drug use by monks, and Thai sources make no mention of it.

Historical Circumstances

While the date of PMKS is not known, the fact that comical recitation of it was first banned in the Three Seals Laws of King Rama I suggest that it had been popular during the Ayutthaya Period. The first is that, as we have seen from the translation of the epic tale, Khun Chang Khun Phaen by Chris Baker and Pasuk

46 Perhaps this is the case, but it is also possible that Ginsburg got this idea from my 1995 book on Phra Malai, where I discuss in detail the change from recitations by monks to recitations by lay groups. 47 See also Nandha Khunphakdee. 48 I would suggest that these routines would not have been performed in the famous temples supported by royalty where foreigners are likely to have been escorted by their hosts. 71

13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THAI STUDIES GLOBALIZED THAILAND? CONNECTIVITY, CONFLICT AND CONUNDRUMS OF THAI STUDIES 15-18 JULY 2017, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

Phongpaichit (2010), early Siamese society enjoyed a sense of humor that was much bawdier than that of today. Moreover, Katherine Bowie’s new landmark book on humor in Vessantara Jataka recitations provides numerous examples of the use of earthy jokes and role-playing, especially concerning the character of Chuchok (Jujaka), the brahmin beggar (Bowie, 2017) Moreover, even seven decades ago the lines between Sangha and laity were much less rigid than today. My 85-year-old friend and colleague, Ajan Sommai Premchit, who grew up in an Isan village, recalls that laymen who had been monks earlier in their lives would join monks in chanting if more voices were needed, and that monks would regularly put their robes aside and don sarongs to help their elders during the rice harvest. In short, practices and ideas of propriety change over time and space, depending on local contingencies. Thus, it is possible that in the late 18th century, when viewed from the ground-level perspective of local needs and tastes, the monks who performed comical chanting of PMKS were not so much “naughty” as trying to survive during hard times and providing a much-needed service to those experiencing the grieving that accompanies death.

Thai Scholars Talking and Writing about Phra Malai

Anthropologist and literary critic Cholthira Satyawadhna, like Igunma, sees the issue of the chanting monks as one involving differences between the strict Dhammayutika sect and the Mahanikaya sect, which allowed for more differences in local practice. But for Cholthira, who has researched a local suat malai group and organized a seminar and performances at Walailak University in Nakhon Si Thammarat, does not view the issue as one of “good” versus “bad” monks. Instead, she argues that PMKS is a play, “a Buddhist drama, and that theatre art should have poetic license for role-playing. Unfortunately, the Siam royal house did not have fun with this sort of folk theatre art, ruled by local monks and staged by monks” (email communication). scholar Trisilpa Boonkachorn also emphasizes the importance of entertainment and fun attached to the klon suat genre. In her epic 400-page book, Klon Suat Phak Klang, she explains that the term klon suat refers to poetic works that have melodies and are concerned with the wat and with Buddhism. Its main goals were to teach the dhamma while providing entertainment and fun. Themes relating sin and merit to the everyday life of villagers were most prevalent (Trisilpa, 2004:3). Phra Malai Klon Suat, the most famous klon suat work, was chanted far and wide at funeral wakes for the purpose of teaching about merit and demerit- reward and punishment while providing lively entertainment to assuage the grief and sorrow of those mourning the deceased (Trisilpa, 2004:5). The genre was popular from ancient times but began to become less popular at the time of King Rama IV, when Western civilization had a great impact on Thai culture.49 Trisilpa writes that another kind of chanting was “cham uat phra,” a comical chanting by monks in front of the deceased. Trisilpa (2004:7, citing Sathit Senanil, 2521:38-39) explains that following the death of a person, relatives would invite monks to chant the Abhidhamma. However, the sponsor of the wake would feel obligated to provide some entertainment to those who had come and therefore, after chanting the Abhidhamma the monks would perform comedy routines, often using double entendre

49 Trisilpa Buunkachorn cites Phraya Uppakit Silapasan, 2507: 102 and 2452, Introduction. 72

13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THAI STUDIES GLOBALIZED THAILAND? CONNECTIVITY, CONFLICT AND CONUNDRUMS OF THAI STUDIES 15-18 JULY 2017, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND expressions with obscene meanings. Thai scholars of literature and culture, including Dhanit Yupho, point out that the audience appreciated such performances. After monks were prohibited from these performances, laymen who had been monks earlier in their lives replaced them as suat kharuehat, or “lay chanters” at wakes. To provide variety and prevent boredom, suat kharuehat groups also performed segments from famous works of Thai literature, including Krai Thong and Phra Aphai Mani among others. Similar statements appear in the writings of other experts, including Nandha Khunphakdee, retired professor of Thai language from Silapakorn University in Nakhon Pathom, and Anake Nawigamue, renowned writer on Thai culture who organized performances at the Bangkok Bank Musical Arts Center for 23 years.

PMKS Performances Today

Today, PMKS is still performed by monks at certain wats in the Bangkok area, including Wat Daowadueng and Wat Laksi Don Muang, as well as by laypeople’s groups in numerous villages in the central region and the south. Chulalongkorn University Thai language and folklore professor Poramin Jaruworn (1999) has written about current kharuehat practices in Ban Nong Khao, Tha Muang district, Kanchanaburi province. Phra Malai can also be found on Facebook, where it has an informative and richly illustrated page with pictures of a kharuehat group known as Khana Nai Kaew in Nakhon Si Thammarat and links to performances on YouTube (see links at the end of this article). The group consists of 12 people, some of them quite elderly, two of whom are women. In addition to singers, each with specific roles in the chanting chorus, there are musicians who play various instruments, including the ramana (drum), saw (spiked fiddle), klui (flute), and ching (finger cymbals). The group has received awards for its efforts to preserve local culture. Performances by other suat kharuehat groups from villages in central region provinces, including Kanchanaburi, Chonburi, Nonthaburi, Ratburi, Phetburi and Suphanburi can also be found on YouTube. When I contacted a man who had uploaded one of the clips, he became my Face Book friend and explained in a message: “When my father died they prayed to achieve a sense of fun and a not-too quiet funeral. You can find chanting in many villages of Bang Lamung district, Chonburi province. This is our tradition. The chanting is not available to all of the old people who died, but only those who were respected in the village” (Facebook Messenger, May 17, 2017). From what I have observed, suat kharuehat groups have several things in common. Members sit on the floor directly in front of the coffin and use as their text a modern folded paper facsimile. They usually begin with a wai khru ceremony of paying respect to their teacher and brief chanting of Pali scripture. While all the groups use lively melodies, and appear to be very earnest about their role as friends of the deceased, there are local variations in the melodies of the chants, the composition of the chanting groups, musical instruments accompanying the chanting.

Conclusion

Western scholars puzzled over the paintings of monks in Phra Malai Klon Suat manuscripts have tended to focus on the paintings and overlook the text, the context in which it was/is recited and the research of

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13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THAI STUDIES GLOBALIZED THAILAND? CONNECTIVITY, CONFLICT AND CONUNDRUMS OF THAI STUDIES 15-18 JULY 2017, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

Thai scholars. This paper has argued that a PMKS manuscript needs to be considered not only as a series of pictures on mulberry paper, but also as a text and script for performing songs in various melodies and rhythms. The key figures were the chanters/performers who made the text a lively source of entertainment. Rather than being criticized, satirized or made into examples of “good” and “bad,” they were appreciated for their ability to entertain those attending funeral wakes.

References

Baker, C., & Phongpaichit, P. (2010). The tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen. In Siam’s great folk epic of love and war. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. Boonkhachorn, T. (2004). Wannakam praphet klonsuat phak klang: Kan sueksa cheung wikhro [Klon Suat literature of the central region: A critical study]. Chulabooks, Bangkok. Bowie, K. A. (2017). Of beggars and Buddhas: the politics of humor in the Vessantara Jataka in Thailand. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press. Brereton, B. P. (1992). The Phra Malai legend in Thai Buddhist literature: a study of three texts (PhD dissertation). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Brereton, B. P. (1995). Thai tellings of Phra Malai: texts and rituals concerning a popular Buddhist saint. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies. Butt, J. W. (1975). Thai kingship and religious reform (eighteen-nineteenth centuries) (B. L. Smith, Ed.). In Religion and legitimation of power in Thailand, Laos and Burma (pp. 34-51). Chambersburg, PA: ANIMA Books. Collins, S. (1993). The story of the elder Māleyyedeva. Journal of the Pali Text Society, 18, 65-96. Denis, E. (1963). Brah Maleyyadevattheravatthyn: L gende bouddhiste du saint thera M leyyadeva (Doctoral thesis, Paris). Sorbonne. Denis, E. (1965). L’Origine Cingalese du P’răḥ Malay [In Felicitation Volume of Southeast Asian Studies Presented to H.H. Prince Dhaninivat]. Bangkok: 2:329-38. Cholthira, S. (2017). Email communication. Ginsburg, H. (1989). Thai manuscript painting. London: British Library. Ginsburg, H. (2000). Thai art & culture: Historic manuscripts from western collections. London: British Library. Igunma, J. (2016). The mystery of the ‘naughty monks’ in Thai manuscript illustrations of Phra Malai. Southeast Asia Library Group Newsletter, 48, 29-42. Jaruworn, P. (1999). Kansueb thot thamnong suat lae prapheni suat phra malai thi ban nongkhao changwat kanchanaburi (PhD dissertation). Chulalongkorn University. Khunphakdee, N. (1987). Kansuat ‘oo ee wihan rai’ lae kansuat kharuehat [Chantng of ‘oo ee wihan rai and suat kharuehat]. In Kitawannakam (pp. 44-71). Bangkok: Sinlapakorn University. Kuanpoonpol, P. (1995). Three Phra Malai manuscripts at Harvard University’s Sackler museum – should they be considered classical or regional? (M. Chitakasem, Ed.). In Thai literary traditions (pp. 186-197). Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press. Luang, P. M. (1948). Attributed to Prince Thammathibet, Introduction by Sathien Koset. Bangkok. (in Thai) Makchang, S. (1978). Māleyyadevattheravatthu: kantruat chamra lae kansueksa choeng wikhro (Master's thesis, Māleyyadevatthera-vatthu: An edition and critical study). Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University. ______(1981). Phra malai klon suat (samnuan wat sisakrabue): kantruat sopchamra lae kansueksa pripthiap [Phra Malai Klon Suat (Wat Sisa Krabue version) an edition and comparison]. Thonburi: Thonburi Teachers College. Malai, P. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=phra malai Nawigamune, A. (1979). Nak suat kharuehat hai pai nai? [Where have the kharuehat chanters gone?]. Sinpala Watthanatham, 1, 1st ser., 73-77. ______. (2017). Email communication. June 5 74

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Phra Malai Klon Suat. (1971). Bangkok: Aksorn Charoen. Ramanujan, A. K. (1991). Three hundred Rāmāyaṇas (P. Richman, Ed.). In Many Rāmāyaṇas: the diversity of a narrative tradition in South Asia. Berkeley, CA. Satyawadhna, C. (2017). Email communication. Skilling, P., & Pakdeekham, S. (2017). Manuscripts in central Thailand: Samut khoi from Petchaburi province. Manuscript Studies, 3:1, 125-150. Suat, P. M. (1984). [Published on the occasion of an educational recitation of Mahachat Kham Luang at Wat Arun Ratchaworaram, 31 August-3 September]. Thonburi. Terwiel, B. J. (2012). Towards understanding Thai Buddhism [Presentation at Vancouver Museum of Anthropology]. Virulrak, S. (1980). Likay: A popular theater in Thailand (PhD dissertation). University of Hawai’i.

Online sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qULwLLpUTE https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=phra%20malai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsd757xD4Tw

Fig. 1 – Left - Monks behaving properly; Right – possibly a monk (left) and a layperson (right)

Fig 2 – Right- monks with eyeglasses, moustaches and beards, performing comedy routines at a funeral. Both illustrations from Southeast Asia Library Group Newsletter No. 48 / Dec., 2016

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