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17-403: Khon is a drama dance genre from Thailand. Khon may also refer to: Khon It is traditionally performed solely in the royal court by men in masks accompanied by narrators and a traditional piphat ensemble. A variation of this genre with female performers is called khon phu ying ( โขนผู้หญิง ). Khon is a Thai traditional dance which combines many arts like dance and drama. There

34-496: A bridge over the ocean so that Rama and the army could cross to Lanka . As described in the epic, the characteristics of the Vanara include being amusing, childish, mildly irritating, badgering, hyperactive, adventurous, bluntly honest, loyal, courageous, and kind. The Vanaras also appear in other texts, including Mahabharata . The epic Mahabharata describes them as forest-dwelling, and mentions their being encountered by Sahadeva ,

51-601: A precursor in the Vedic literature . The Ramayana presents them as humans with reference to their speech, clothing, habitations, funerals, weddings, consecrations etc. It also describes their monkey-like characteristics such as their leaping, hair, fur and a tail. Aiyanagar suggests that though the poet of the Ramayana may have known that vanaras were actually forest-dwelling people, he may portrayed them as real monkeys with supernatural powers and many of them as amsa s (portions) of

68-500: A race of forest-dwelling people. In the epic the Ramayana , the Vanaras help Rama defeat Ravana . They are generally depicted as humanoid apes, or human-like beings. There are three main theories about the etymology of the word "Vanara": Although the word Vanara has come to mean "monkey" over the years and the Vanaras are depicted as monkeys in the popular art, their exact identity

85-399: Is a poem intermix with Epic and Dramatic, which lasts three days, from eight in the morning till seven at night. They are histories in verse, serious, and sung by several actors always present, and which do only sing reciprocally .... The Rabam is a double dance of men and women, which is not martial, but gallant ... they can perform it without much tying themselves, because their way of dancing

102-570: Is a simple march round, very slow, and without any high motion; but with a great many slow contortions of the body and arms . Of the attire of Siamese Khôn dancers, La Loubère recorded that, "[T]hose that dance in Rabam, and Cone, have gilded paper-bonnets, high and pointed, like the Mandarins caps of ceremony, but which hang down at the sides below their ears, which are adorned with counterfeit stones, and with two pendants of gilded wood." The origin of Khon

119-459: Is hinted at by the origin of the word "Khon". Its origin is not precisely known, but there are four possibilities. First, "Khon" in Benguela Kalinin appears in the words " kora " or "Khon" which is the name of a musical instrument made of Hindi leather. Its appearance and shape are similar to the drum. It was popular and used for local traditional performances. It was assumed that kora was one of

136-454: Is not clear. According to the Ramayana, Vanaras were shapeshifters. In the Vanara form, they had beards with extended sideburns, narrowly shaved chin gap, and no moustache. They had a tail and razor-sharp claws. Their skin and skeleton were inforced with an indestructible Vajra, which no earthly element could penetrate. Unlike other exotic creatures such as the rakshasas , the Vanaras do not have

153-617: The classic 17th century theatre of Siam, including an epic battle scene from a Khon performance, and recorded what he saw in great detail: The Siamese have three sorts of Stage Plays: That which they call Cone [khôn] is a figure dance, to the sound of the violin and some other instruments. The dancers are masked and armed, and represent rather a combat than a dance. And though every one runs into high motions, and extravagant postures, they cease not continually to intermix some word. Most of their masks are hideous, and represent either monstrous Beasts, or kinds of Devils. The Show which they call Lacone

170-469: The flag of this clan bears monkeys as emblems. G. Ramdas, based on Ravana's reference to the Vanaras' tail as an ornament, infers that the "tail" was actually an appendage in the dress worn by the men of the Savara tribe. (The female Vanaras are not described as having a tail. ) According to this theory, the non-human characteristics of the Vanaras may be considered artistic imagination . In Sri Lanka,

187-469: The gods to make the epic more "fantastic". According to one theory, the Vanaras are semi-divine creatures. This is based on their supernatural abilities, as well as descriptions of Brahma commanding other deities to either bear Vanara offspring or incarnate as Vanaras to help Rama in his mission. The Jain re-tellings of Ramayana describe them as a clan of the supernatural beings called the Vidyadharas ;

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204-448: The heroes, the heroines, the ogres, and the monkeys. The monkeys are some of the most important roles in Khon. The best-known monkey characters in the story is the monkey warrior Hanuman. Modern Khon contains many elements from the lakhon nai and today, includes female performers playing female characters, formerly performed by men. While the ogre and monkey characters wear masks, most of

221-411: The human characters do not. Khon is based on the tales of the epic Ramakien (Thai adaptation of Indian Hindu epic Ramayana ), as Thai literature and drama draws great inspiration from Indian arts and legend . Khon Ramakien originally could be performed by men only. Women performed only as angels and goddesses. Today women perform as monkeys and demons. In the past, Khon was performed only by

238-646: The instruments used in Khon performances. In the Tamil language "Khon" derives from the word "koll" which is close to "goll" or "golumn" in Tamil. These Tamil words relate to dressing or decorating the body from head to toe as in the use of Khon costumes. "Khon" in Iran was derived from the words "zurat khan" which means 'handed-doll' or 'puppet', used in local performances. Its songs were similar to current Khon. Khon roles are dictated by long-standing tradition. The principal characters are

255-571: The royal family, with the sons of the king performing as monkeys and demons. Thai Khon stresses realistic dance moves, especially the monkey, which focuses on beauty and fine monkey-like dancing postures. Khon training is begun at a very young age, so that the performer can become flexible enough to do back flips, especially by the Vanara (forest dwellers or monkey) character. Vanara In Hinduism , Vanara ( Sanskrit : वानर , lit.   'forest-dwellers') are either monkeys, apes, or

272-749: The word "Vanara" has been used to describe the Nittaewos mentioned in the Vedda legends. Vanaras are created by Brahma to help Rama in battle against Ravana . They are powerful and have many godly traits. Taking Brahma's orders, the gods began to parent sons in the zion of Kishkindha (identified with parts of present-day Karnataka , Andhra Pradesh , and Maharashtra ). Rama first met them in Dandaka Forest , during his search for Sita . An army of Vanaras helped Rama in his search for Sita, and also in battle against Ravana , Sita's abductor. Nala and Nila built

289-595: Was no exact evidence that dates its provenance , but it is mentioned in Thai literature's Lilit Phra Lo (c. 1529) which was written before the era of King Narai Maharaj . Historical evidence shows that the Thai art of stage plays must have already been highly evolved by the 17th century. In 1687, Louis XIV of France sent a diplomat Simon de la Loubère to record all that he saw in the Siamese Kingdom. In his famous account Du Royaume de Siam , La Loubère carefully observed

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