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Thailand: A scene from the Ramakien (Ramayana) murals, Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), Bangkok

The Ramayana is a story as old as time and - at least in the Indian subcontinent and across much of Southeast Asia - of unparalleled popularity. More than two thousand three hundred years ago the scholar-poet Valmiki sat down to write his definitive epic of love and war.

The poem Valmiki composed is styled the Ramayana, or 'Romance of Rama' in Sanskrit. In its present form, the Sanskrit version consists of some 24,000 couplets divided into seven books.

The Ramakien is the Thai version of this epic and has an important influence on Thai literature, art and drama. It is regarded as the National Epic of Thailand.

Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha); full official name Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. It is located within the precincts of the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace served as the official residence of the Kings of Thailand from the 18th century onwards. Construction of the Palace began in 1782, during the reign of King Rama I, when he moved the capital across the river from Thonburi to Bangkok.