Ramakien. According to Wikipedia, Rama's story reached the Khmer and Srivijaya kingdoms around the year 1000, and there are written records of Rama legends dating to the 13th century. The version I'm reading is an English translation of the version authored by King Rama I (1726–1809). Apparently a version by Rama II has even more adventures of Hanuman (!) and a happy ending (!). In 1989, Satyavrat Shastri translated the Ramakien into Sanskrit! Wow! There is a long list of Ramakien characters who have Wikipedia articles of their own, so I will make sure to consult those also. I was curious about this Sanskrit poet, so that's where I went next:
Satya Vrat Shastri. A modern Sanskrit scholar and poet, born in 1930. He also taught Sanskrit to Thailand's Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and she wrote the foreword to his Sanskrit translation of the Ramakien: Sri-rama-kirti-maha-kavyam. And ... that's dangerous, ha ha: I saw a book by Shastri of Sanskrit subhashitas (Subhasitasahasri: Thousand Pearls from Sanskrit Literature), so I Googled it and found it for sale at Exotic India Arts. So I ordered a copy. I could not resist! And of course I am curious about this Thai princess, so I went next to:
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. She is commonly referred to as Phra Thep, "Princess Angel." She was born in 1955, and is second in line to the throne. She is a Sanskrit scholar, has a Ph.D. in education, and is passionate about technology also. Here is a photo from 2016:
The Wikipedia article ends with a list of plants and animals named in her honor! Including... a dinosaur: Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae, a sauropod herbivore dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period. It was described in 1994. So that is where I went next:
Phuwiangosaurus. Here is a recreation based on fossil remains:
No comments:
Post a Comment
To minimize spam, comments are restricted to Google accounts only. You can also contact me at laurakgibbs@gmail.com or at Twitter: @OnlineCrsLady. Comments on older posts will be moderated.