PAINTING STRUCTURE AND NARRATIVE: ARTS LIGHTING THE RELATION BETWEEN THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE BUDDHA “PATHOMSOMBODHIKATHA”AND MURAL PAINTING OF WAT HONG RATTANARAM RATCHAWORAWIHAN

Abstract

This article aims to study the painting structure and narrative which shows the relation between Pathomsombodhikatha, the biography of the Buddha, and the mural painting of Wat Hong Rattanaram Ratchaworawihan by using the concept of painting structure and narrative and analyzing two episodes of Pathomsombodhikatha, Gabbhɑ̄nikakhamanapariwatta (the royal pregnancy) and Mɑ̄rawichayapariwatta (the victory over Mɑ̄ra), and two frames of mural painting, the painting of giving birth and confrontation with Mɑ̄ra. The result shows that the mural painting structure of giving birth episode has a lot of incidents sorted as the “main part”, the painting of Sirimahɑ̄mɑ̄yɑ̄ delivered the son (Bodhisatta) and the son took seven steps on divine lotus flowers, and the “supporting part”, the painting of the Bodhisatta’s Pavilion, the royal procession of Sirimahɑ̄mɑ̄yɑ̄ and brɑ̄hmas and celestial beings gathering to pay homage. The confrontation with Mɑ̄ra episode has only one incident painting. The “main part” is the painting of Bodhisatta sitting on the Throne with the Mother Earth wringing her locks to let out the torrents of water. The “supporting part” on the right side is the painting of Mɑ̄ra’s troops confronting Bodhisatta and the left side is the painting of the torrents of water from Mother Earth’s locks being flooded the whole Mɑ̄ra’s troops and defeated them. The painting structure and the narrative have related components as follows; 1) Character: the names and places of characters are obviously appeared in Pathomsombodhikatha unlike in painting where they cannot be identified, 2) Plot: the incidents in both Pathomsombodhikatha and painting were linked chronically, 3) Theme: the theme appearing in confrontation with Mɑ̄ra episode both in Pathomsombodhikatha and the painting is the good has won as it always does, 4) Time/Place/Setting: in Pathomsombodhikatha, time, place and setting are elaborately described unlike the painting with its limitation, the time and place cannot be identified but the setting can be expressed to indicate the incident, 5) Attire/ Vehicle/ Weapon: the confrontation with Mɑ̄ra episode in Pathomsombodhikatha narrated the Mɑ̄ra’s troops elaborately while it was concisely depicted in the painting, 6) Conflict:  the conflict in confrontation with Mɑ̄ra episode of both Pathomsombodhikatha and painting is the conflict between Bodhisatta and Mɑ̄ra. In conclusion, Pathomsombodhikatha is the narrative of the biography of the Buddha with words impacting the creation of the painting structure and content of the biography of the Buddha narrative through the mural painting of Wat Hong Rattanaram Ratchaworawihan. It is the relation called “arts light the way to one another”. It is considered to be the meaning construction of literary arts lighting the way to visual art which creates the role of relation of arts in the way of narrative serving religion as helping to spread the biography of the Buddha and expanding the impact to the cultural tourism of Wat Hong Rattanaram Ratchaworawihan.