Hanuman battling Macchanu stance in the chant from the royal work Ramayana by the King Rama I

Abstract

This research focuses on studying the components of battlemovements of the humanoid apes in the Ramayana as well as the battle movements of Hanuman in the chant version of Kree Worasarin, who has officially been a National Artist in Thai Dance performing art (Thai Dance - Khon) since 1988. The qualitative research method is employed in this study by gathering, comprehending, and analysing related documents, textbooks, research, and exclusive interviews, including the instruction given by Viroj Yusawat, an expert in Thai dance from Bunditpatanasilpa Institute, who has inherited and participated in the invention of battle stances. According to the study, the battle stance of the monkey characters in Ramayana appears in three different references: mural, grand shadow play, and Khon (pantomime). The study result shows that there is correlation among these three references in the term of influence to create the battling stance of Hanuman in the Ramayana literary work by King Rama I. The details of Hanumans fighting posture in the chant are summarized in 14 different movements and categorized into two subgroups, which are the battle moves related to the lyrics and battle moves designed by the choreographers, respectively. The three main structures of the battling stances are similar in every movement for monkeys fighting stance, giant fighting stance, and monkey-giant fighting stand. Even though the battling stances bear most similarity to Khon performance, the details of the movement are different, particularly for the monkey fighting moves, where the most distinctive feature is unique and exquisite due to the highest level of correlation among movements, lyrics, and thorough imagination of the choreographers. This combined characteristic adds value to the performance and distinguishes it because it was created by a Thai National Artist and enhanced by a Thai dance expert, resulting in the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and bringing more benefit to arts-related studies.