Mural Painting of the Ramakien
On the walls of the galleries surrounding Wat Phra Keo are a series of panoramic mural paintings that depict the story of the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Ramayana, an Indian epic dealing with the triumph of good over evil. The tale is told in 178 panels, each occupying the area between two pillars of the many that support the gallery; poems about the action, composed in the reign of King Rama V, are inscribe on marble slabs set into the relevant pillar. Though originally painted by order of King Rama I when the temple was built, the murals have been restored many times, most recently for the 1982 Bangkok Bicentennial celebrations. These works are almost identical to the original 1930 compositions executed under the direction of Phra Thewapinimmit, and reflect the style of that era with Western perspective, the use of shadows, and naturalistic rendering of the landscape, and with characters drawn in a conventional Thai maner.