Manimekhala

Maṇimēkalai (Tamil: மணிமேகலை, lit. 'jewelled belt, girdle of gems'), also spelled Manimekhalai or Manimekalai, is a Tamil-Buddhist epic composed by Kulavāṇikaṉ Seethalai Sataṉar probably around the 6th century.It is an "anti-love story", a sequel to the "love story" in the earliest Tamil epic Silappadikaram, with some characters from it and their next generation. The epic consists of 4,861 lines in akaval meter, arranged in 30 cantos.

"Mekhala" redirects here. For Buddhist mahasiddha, see Mekhala and Kanakhala.
Illustrated of Mekhala and Ramasura, from a samut khoi of Thai poetry in the second half of the 19th century. Now in the collection of Bavarian State Library, Germany.

The Manimekalai is one of the Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature, and one of three that have survived into the modern age. Along with its twin-epic Silappadikaram, the Manimekalai is widely considered as an important text that provides insights into the life, culture and society of the Tamil regions (India and Sri Lanka) in the early centuries of the common era. The last cantos of the epic – particularly Canto 27 – are also a window into then extant ideas of Mahayana Buddhism, Jainism, Ajivika, and Hinduism, as well as the history of interreligious rivalries and cooperation as practiced and understood by the Tamil population in a period of Dravidian–Aryan synthesis and as the Indian religions were evolving .

Etymology

In Pali, maṇīmekhalā refers to a girdle or belt of jewels. In Southeast Asia, she is known by various indigenized appellations, including as Mani Maykhala (မဏိမေခလာ) in Burmese, as Moni Mekhala (មណីមេខលា) or Neang Mekhala (នាងមេខលា) in Khmer; as Mani Mekkhala (มณีเมขลา) in Thai.

In Mainland Southeast Asia
Manimekhala in Mahajanaka.

Archaeological evidence of Manimekhala in the form of reliefs has been found in Zothoke, Myanmar (near Bilin), dating to the first millennium AD.[1]

Manimekhala is seen in wat paintings across Mainland Southeast Asia depicting scenes from the Mahajanaka.[2] In Thailand and Cambodia, she is considered a goddess of lightning and the seas.

Manimekhala and Ramasura

The story of Manimekhala and Ramasura is mentioned many times in the classical literature of Cambodia and Thailand. It depicts Manimekhala along with Ramasura (usually considered a depiction of Parashurama) and Arjuna. According to legend, the phenomena of lightning and thunder is produced from the flashing of Manimekhala's crystal ball and the sound of Ramasura's axe as he pursues her through the skies.[3][4]

In Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, she is considered to be the sea goddess. In the Tamil epic poem, the Manimekalai, she puts the eponymous heroine to sleep and takes her to the island Maṇipallavam (Nainatheevu). In the mythic cycle of the god Devol, when the latter approaches Sri Lanka and his ship founders, it is Manimekhalai, on the instructions of the god Śakra, who conjures up a stone boat to save him.

Dance
Mekkhala dance in Thai style.

In the classical dance traditions of Thailand and Cambodia, sacred dramatic dances depict the story of Manimekhala and Ramasura.

Cambodia

Robam Moni Mekhala (Khmer: របាំមុនីមេខលា, also known as Robam Mekhala-Reamesor) is a Khmer classical dance that portrays the story of Moni Mekhala and Reamesor. It is part of the buong suong dance suite that is among the most sacred of Khmer classical dances, serving a ceremonial purpose to invoke rain upon the land.[5]

Thailand

In Thailand, the Mekkhala–Ramasun dance was performed as a boek rong ('prelude dance') introduction before main performances of lakhon nai or khon dances.[6][7]

In modern usage

See also

References
  1. MOORE, ELIZABETH; WIN, SAN (2007). "The Gold Coast: Suvannabhumi? Lower Myanmar Walled Sites of the First Millennium A.D.". Asian Perspectives. 46 (1): 202–232. ISSN 0066-8435. JSTOR 42928710.
  2. Anne Elizabeth Monius. Imagining a place for Buddhism: literary culture and religious community in Tamil-speaking South India. Oxford University Press US, 2001, pages 111-112
  3. Candelario, Rosemary (2014-04-14). "Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso Edited by Prumsodun Ok (review)". Asian Theatre Journal. 31 (1): 324–326. doi:10.1353/atj.2014.0027. ISSN 1527-2109. S2CID 160156947.
  4. "Cambodian Folktales | Southeast Asia Program". seap.einaudi.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  5. Cravath, Paul. Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Autumn, 1986), pp. 179-203 (The Ritual Origins of the Classical Dance Drama of Cambodia) University of Hawai'i Press
  6. "เรียนรู้เรื่องรำไทย ระบำชุด เมขลารามสูร". natasinsamphan.com (in Thai). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  7. Prasert Sontipong (2002). กระบวนท่ารำของรามสูรในการแสดงเบิกโรงละครใน [Ramasura dance patterns in lakon nai dance prelude] (master's thesis). Chulalongkorn University. ISBN 974-17-2465-9.
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