Ramayana Beyond Text: Sculptural Narratives and the Hybridisation of Sacred Kingship in Southeast Asia

Vivek Kumar Mishra

This paper examines the trans-regional movement of the Ramayana beyond its textual form, focusing on its transformation into sculptural narratives and its role in shaping hybrid models of sacred kingship in Southeast Asia. While literary adaptations such as the Ramakien and the Reamker have attracted sustained scholarly attention, the political implications embedded in their monumental and visual expressions remain comparatively underexplored. The study argues that Ramayana reliefs and temple panels functioned not merely as narrative representations but as instruments of political theology. Through visual sequencing, spatial arrangement, and iconographic adaptation, these sculptural programmes articulated ideals of moral sovereignty and sacral authority. At sites such as Prambanan Temple, the epic was reconfigured to express an idealised model of kingship in which Rama embodies dharmic rule. The narrative was selectively reshaped to resonate with local political cosmologies while preserving its broader ethical framework. Situating these monuments within the wider maritime and mercantile networks of the Bay of Bengal world, the paper demonstrates how sculptural adaptations facilitated intercultural exchange. The visual Ramayana thus emerges as a dynamic medium through which concepts of sovereignty, legitimacy, and sacred authority were negotiated and reimagined. By integrating textual interpretation with art-historical and archaeological analysis, this study repositions the Ramayana as an active agent of political communication whose material afterlives illuminate the formation of hybridised kingship across interconnected Asian societies.