Dam Din
Dam Din (Template:Lang-km), also known as Chao Ponhea Techo Chrek Dey or Techo Dam Din, is a legendary figure from Khmer history, usually described as the founder of the first Thai kingdom who freed the people from the rule of the ancient Khmer Empire. It is also found as a title that may have referred to one or more kings of Sukhothai, and is referred to in the title of many works of literature, including the Trai Phum Phra Ruang, a Sukhothai-era religious text describing the Buddhist cosmology.
Etymology
Dam Din is a word taken from Thai, meaning tam to dive, while din is means land. The "underground-travelling Khmer" can be interpreted as a Thai catchphrase that may signify according to nationalist Thai authors[1] a sense of an inferior or untrustworthy neighbour against whom Thailand must always be on guard.[2] It may well refer to the supernatual powers connecting humans and the underworld as in the related legend of Khleang Moeung.
Legend
Khmer version
In the Khmer version Damn Din was a high-ranking official during the reign of King Botum Suryavong. Because of the latter's gift of prescience, he allegedly knew that Thailand would one day have a king and Siam would be considered as a separate land free from paying tribute to the Khmer Empire.
The King was angered by the arrogance of Ponhea Rong who had stood in his presence in the middle of the royal hall in front of him. When the King ordered Dam Din to arrest him, Ponhea Rong fled into the shadows. Dam Din had to bring 300 soldiers to encroach on the land to capture Ponhea Rong in Sukhothai district. Ponhea Rong ran and took refuge in a Thai Buddhist pagoda. One afternoon, while Ponhea Rong was clearing the courtyard in front of the temple, Dam Din appeared right in from of him after travelling undergound. Ponhea Rong was well aware that they had come to arrest him, but as we we dressed as a monk, they did not dare and Ponhea Rong cast a spell on Dam Din. Suddenly, Dam Din's body gradually became harder and harder and turned to stone to this day. The rest of the troops who followed retreated back to report to the king. After the death of the Siamese king in Sukhothai, Ponhea Rong left the monastery and came to rule Siam. From then on, Ponhea Rong changed his name to King Chandrathipati, the new Siamese king. Popularly known as Ponhea Rong, he attempted to assassinate the Khmer king twice more.
Thai version
Dam Din is presented in Thai popular history as the Khmer general who was defeated by the first legendary ruler of Siam, King Phra Ruang. A common version of the Phra Ruang legend is that he was a Thai chieftain of Lavo (Lopburi) with supernatural powers of speech. The Thais had to deliver water to the Khmer Lord Khom capital as tax, and Phra Ruang used his powers to make bamboo baskets waterproof so that they could be used to carry the water instead of heavy clay jars. When the Khom king wanted him dead, Phra Ruang escaped and wass ordained as a monk at Sukhothai. A Khmer spy, Damn Din, magically "diving underground", was sent to find him, but not knowing Phra Ruang's face, inadvertently asked him when they met. Phra Ruang told the spy to stay there, and his powers turned him into stone.[3]
Posterity
Iconography
Dam Din is often represented in and around Angkorian ruins, temples and pagodas in Cambodia, such as the Nokor Bachey Temple in Kampong Cham.
Litterature
There have been many modern adaptations of the legend in Thai litterature. One of the best known is a 1917 play by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), who explained the supernatural powers as acts of Phra Ruang's great wit.
Music and Ballet
Dam Din is the subject of a dance in the traditional Thai ballet.[4]
Toponymy
Dam Din is the name given to a road in the municipality of Phnom Penh that runs from the Toul Kork antenna to the Cannon roundabout.
References
- ^ Bulletin Du Centre D'études Khmères (CEK) (in Khmer). Majajhmanḍal Khmersiksā. 2004. p. 56.
- ^ Nordholt, H. G. C. Schulte; Raben, R. (2020-06-22). Locating Southeast Asia: Geographies of Knowledge and Politics of Space. BRILL. p. 120. ISBN 978-90-04-43488-2.
- ^ Chadchaidee, Thanapol (Lamduan) (2017-03-09). Fascinating Folktales of Thailand. Booksmango. p. 15. ISBN 978-616-245-055-6.
- ^ Rutnin, Mattani Mojdara (1996). Dance, Drama, and Theatre in Thailand: The Process of Development and Modernization. Silkworm Books. p. 129. ISBN 978-974-390-006-8.
Sources
- "ตำนานพระร่วง". www.thaistudies.chula.ac.th (in Thai). Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University. 29 September 2018 [7 October 2012]. Retrieved 25 November 2019.