Rama and Sita - Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Epic Beings and Creatures on Waymarking.com

"Rama and Sita are the protagonists of the Ramayana one of the most famous love stories of all time. Described as being deeply in love, Sita and Rama are theologically understood as Avatars of Lakshmi and Vishnu respectively. When Rama is banished from the kingdom, he attempts to convince Sita not to join him in a potentially dangerous and certainly arduous existence in the jungle, but Sita rejects this. When Rama orders her in his capacity as husband, Sita rejects it, asserting that it was an essential duty of a wife to be at her husband's side come good or ill. Rama in turn is assiduously protective and caring for Sita throughout the exile.

When Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, both Sita and Rama undergo great personal hardships during their separation. Sita protects her chastity assiduously, and survives over a year in captivity on the strength of her love and attention to religious values and duty. She is completely unfettered in her resolve despite Ravana's courting, cajoling and threats. Meanwhile Rama, not knowing who had kidnapped Sita or where was she taken, often succumbs to despair and tears, denouncing himself for failing to defend her and agonizing over her safety and pain. Sita knows that it is in Rama's destiny to fight to rescue her (she refuses to be rescued thus by Hanuman, who discovers her), but is deeply anxious for his safety and fearful of Ravana's power." (visit link)

The Hindu epic of Ramayana is depicted on the roofed walls surrounding the Silver Pagoda Complex. The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven books and thematically explores human values and the concept of dharma. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata.

"The Silver Pagoda is surrounded by 642 meters long and 3 meters height compound wall. The murals were painted in 1903 and depict a complete story of Ramayana with its main characters. The starting point of the story is at the north of the entrance door. The visitors must walk along the wall to see the entire story." (visit link)

"The murals were painted in 1903-1904 by a team of students working under the direction of artist Vichitre Chea and architect Oknha Tep Nimit Thneak. In the 30s the galleries served as ad hoc classrooms for Buddhist monks." (visit link)

For more information on Ramayana: Wikipedia (visit link)

Time Period: Ancient Approximate Date of Epic Period: Between 8th and 4th century BC Epic Type: Mythical Exhibit Type: Mural, Painting, Photograph

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Date Logged Log   03/26/2015 Castor007 visited it