Rama

=== Hindu arts in Southeast Asia ===
[[File:L'exposition "Angkor - la naissance d'un mythe" (musée Guimet) (11804234493).jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Rama's story is a major part of the artistic reliefs found at [[Angkor Wat]], Cambodia. Large sequences of Ramayana reliefs are also found in Java, Indonesia.<ref>{{cite book |author=Willem Frederik Stutterheim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OoitUqGk8PAC |title=Rāma-legends and Rāma-reliefs in Indonesia |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-7017-251-2 |pages=109–160}}</ref>]]

Rama's life story, both in the written form of Sanskrit ''Ramayana'' and the oral tradition arrived in southeast Asia in the 1st millennium CE.<ref name="Brandon2009p22">{{cite book |author=James R. Brandon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-tAlBV5_LkC |title=Theatre in Southeast Asia |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-02874-6 |pages=22–27 |access-date=10 April 2017 |archive-date=31 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131062705/https://books.google.com/books?id=g-tAlBV5_LkC |url-status=live }}</ref> Rama was one of many ideas and cultural themes adopted, others being the Buddha, the Shiva and host of other Brahmanic and Buddhist ideas and stories.<ref name="Brandon2009p15">{{cite book |author=Brandon |first=James R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-tAlBV5_LkC |title=Theatre in Southeast Asia |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-02874-6 |pages=15–21 |access-date=10 April 2017 |archive-date=31 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131062705/https://books.google.com/books?id=g-tAlBV5_LkC |url-status=live }}</ref> In particular, the influence of Rama and other cultural ideas grew in [[Java]], [[Bali]], [[Malaysia|Malaya]], [[Burma]], [[Thailand]], [[Cambodia]] and [[Laos]].<ref name="Brandon2009p15" />

The ''Ramayana'' was translated from Sanskrit into old Javanese around 860 CE, while the performance arts culture most likely developed from the oral tradition inspired by the Tamil and Bengali versions of Rama-based dance and plays.<ref name="Brandon2009p22" /> The earliest evidence of these performance arts are from 243 CE according to Chinese records. Other than the celebration of Rama's life with dance and music, Hindu temples built in southeast Asia such as the [[Prambanan]] near [[Yogyakarta]] (Java), and at the [[Panataran]] near [[Blitar]] (East Java), show extensive reliefs depicting Rama's life.<ref name="Brandon2009p22" /><ref>Jan Fontein (1973), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4171579 The Abduction of Sitā: Notes on a Stone Relief from Eastern Java] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506025631/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4171579 |date=6 May 2020 }}, Boston Museum Bulletin, Vol. 71, No. 363 (1973), pp. 21–35</ref> The story of Rama's life has been popular in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kats |first=J. |year=1927 |title=The Ramayana in Indonesia |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=4 |issue=3 |page=579 |doi=10.1017/s0041977x00102976 |s2cid=162850921}}</ref>

{{Main|Rama (Kings of Thailand)}}
In the 14th century, the [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] and its capital Ayuttaya was named after the Hindu holy city of Ayodhya, with the official religion of the state being Theravada Buddhism.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Francis D. K. Ching |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciywCgAAQBAJ |title=A Global History of Architecture |author2=Mark M. Jarzombek |author3=Vikramaditya Prakash |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-470-40257-3 |page=456}}, Quote: "The name of the capital city [Ayuttaya] derives from the Hindu holy city Ayodhya in northern India, which is said to be the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama."</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Michael C. Howard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6QPWXrCCzBIC |title=Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies: The Role of Cross-Border Trade and Travel |publisher=McFarland |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7864-9033-2 |pages=200–201}}</ref> Thai kings, continuing into the contemporary era, have been called Rama, a name inspired by Rama of ''Ramakien'' – the local version of Sanskrit ''Ramayana'', according to Constance Jones and James Ryan. For example, King [[Chulalongkorn]] (1853–1910) is also known as Rama V, while King [[Vajiralongkorn]] who succeeded to the throne in 2016 is called Rama X.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Constance Jones |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&pg=PA443 |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |author2=James D. Ryan |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5 |page=443}}</ref>