Phra Lak Phra Ram

Scene from Phra Lak Phra Ram, the Lao form of the Indian Ramayana. Several versions of the story were recorded on palm-leaf manuscripts between the 15th and early 19th centuries.[1]

'Phra Lak Phra Ram' (ພຣະລັກພຣະຣາມ, pʰrāʔ lāk pʰrāʔ ráːm) is the national epic of the Lao people, an adaptation of the ancient Indian epic Ramayana.

Ramayana reached Laos much later than Cambodia (Reamker) and Thailand (Ramakien) which caused the loss of its original Hindu influence and affected local adaptation.[2] Similar to some Malay versions of the Hikayat Seri Rama, the epic has lost the association with Hinduism and is instead considered a Jataka tale (the Dasaratha Jataka), a previous lifetime of the Buddha.

  1. ^ Richman, P. (1991). Many Rāmāyaṇas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia. (pp. 54–73). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  2. ^ "The characters | Phralak Phralam". Phralak Phralam.