สำนักงานราชบัณทิตยสภา

98  The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 verses, out of the entire 4,984 verses, which describe the mural paintings of the Ramakien, which fi ll the wall of the gallery in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The royal tradition of composing the Ramakien was carried on by King Rama VI, who also composed episodes of the Ramakien, as well as promoted and acted in many Khon performances himself. King Rama VI’s Ramakien Being a scholar of world literature, King Rama VI (1880–1925) knew the Indian Ramayana of Valmiki, and based his Ramakien episodes upon it. He named the characters after those of Valmiki, or as close to those in the Valmiki Ramayana as possible in the Thai tongue. For example, Rama’s brother, whose name is Lak in the earlier Ramakien, is called Laksmana in King Rama VI’s Ramakien. Ravana’s sister, called Sammanakha in the earlier Ramakien, is called Surapanakha in King Rama VI’s Figure 1: King Rama VI By Courtesy of the National Archives King Rama VI’s Promotion of Khon and Drama in General