Dance dramas were performed as ritual offerings. A Sanskrit inscription dating to the 7th century encourages devotees to recite the Mahabharata and the Ramayana daily as means of merit making. This suggests that the dramatization of these texts was considered to be sacred. Of the two Indian epics, the Ramayana continues to play a significant role in contemporary Khmer dance drama. The Reamker, the Cambodian version of the Ramayana harks back to the Ramakerti, a 16th-century text written in middle Khmer. (See Toni Phim, “The Reamker”)

The scenes from the Ramayana that we see narrated on many ancient Khmer temples followed the Sanskrit version of the epic very closely. The following episodes from the Ramayana are rendered on stone reliefs that are found on different Khmer temples dated between 10th and 12th century; they are presented here sequentially, in terms of narrative. The poem tells the story of the retiring King Dasaratha of Ayodhya who chooses his son Rama as his heir. His wife Kaikeyi asks him to appoint another son Bharata, instead. Kaikeyi pleads that he owes her two favors, and she feels misfortune will come upon her if he does not crown Bharata king and banish Rama to the forest for fourteen years. The king reluctantly agrees, so Rama, accompanied by his beautiful wife, Sita and his brother, Lakshmana journey into the forest to live a simple life.

The adventure begins in the forest. One day Sita sees a golden deer and she asks Rama to catch it for her. (fig. 1) While Rama and Lakshmana pursue the golden deer, Sita is abducted by Ravana, the ten-headed demon king of the island of Lanka; Ravana carries her off on his chariot. (fig. 2) In the forest, Rama kills the golden deer with his arrow and the deer turns out to be Marici, Ravana’s uncle in disguise. Rama seeks the help of the monkey king, Sugriva, to locate Sita’s where about. However, Sugriva’s brother, Valin has just usurped his throne. In return for Sugriva’s help in rescuing Sita, Rama kills Valin and regains the crown for Sugriva. (fig. 3) With the help of the monkey general, Hanuman and the monkey army, Rama builds a stone bridge to the island of Lanka. (fig. 4) Ravana orders the sea creatures to eat all the stones, but Rama’s army eventually overcomes this problem. Rama, Hanuman, and the army then arrive on Lanka. They first encounter the demon, Kumbhakarna, who spends half of each year in dormant. (fig. 5) Rama has to wake him up with an elephant in order to fight with him. In the fight, Rama kills Kumbhakarna. As the battle ensures, Rama and Lakshmana are captured by serpent arrows of Indrajit (Ravana’s son). The Garuda bird (Rama’s ally) liberates them from the bondage of the serpents. (fig. 6) The series of events culminates in the final battle of Lanka where we see Rama mounted on his monkey general, Hanuman, as he confronts the ten-headed and twenty-armed Ravana. (fig. 7) (fig. 7b) Rama kills Ravana in the battle. Finally, Rama and Sita return victoriously to Ayodhya on a flying palanquin carried by a group of monkeys (fig. 8) After Rama and Sita’s return, the people of Ayodhya people begin to spread gossip about Sita’s infidelity to Rama while she was living as Ravana’s captive. These vicious rumors influence Rama and compel him to doubt his wife, Sita’s fidelity. Sita endures a trial by fire. Comparable to pure gold, a metal that cannot be tainted by flame; Sita emerges triumphantly from the fire, a sign that she has always been faithful to Rama. (fig. 9)