Q1.
The scene in Fig. 2.21 depicts the well-known Hindu myth of samudra manthana or the churning of the ocean. The devas (gods, on the right here) and the asuras (demons, on the left) decided to join forces to churn the cosmic ocean in search of amrita or the nectar of immortality, with the serpent Vāsuki as the churning rope and Viṣhṇu (above) presiding over the operation — he will eventually deceive the asuras to make sure that the amrita goes to the devas alone. Note also the airport’s official name of ‘Suvarnabhumi Airport’ — does it remind you of something?
Answer
Yes — ‘Suvarnabhumi’ is the Sanskrit Suvarṇabhūmi, the ‘golden land’. The chapter has already told us where the name comes from. From a few centuries BCE, “Indian traders were sailing to Southeast Asian countries in search of gold and other valuable resources. They frequently visited the islands of Java, Sumatra, and Malaya, so much so that these places came to be known as ‘Suvarṇabhūmi' (the ‘golden land') or ‘Suvarṇadvīpa' (the ‘golden island').”
So Thailand's main international airport, opened in our own century, carries a name Indian sailors gave to that region more than two thousand years ago.
Two things this one airport shows
- The sculpture shows a Hindu myth — samudra manthana, the churning of the ocean — standing in the arrivals hall of a modern airport in a Buddhist country. Vāsuki as the churning rope, Viṣhṇu above, devas on one side and asuras on the other: a story from the Indian epics and Purāṇas, displayed as Thailand's own heritage.
- The name shows the trade link. The airport is a place of arrival and departure, exactly as the ‘golden land' was for ancient Indian traders. The old sea route and the new air route serve the same purpose.
Why it happens: the chapter's whole argument about Thailand is that Indian culture arrived by trade and stayed by choice. The evidence is in names: the Dvāravatī culture (6th–11th centuries CE) named from Sanskrit for ‘that which has gates', referring to Dvārakā, Kṛiṣhṇa's city in the Mahābhārata; the Ayutthayā kingdom, founded in 1351, named after Ayodhyā; and the kings of the present Chakri dynasty, all named after Rāma — the current king being Rama X. Suvarnabhumi Airport is simply the latest name in that list.
Did you know? The chapter also notes that Theravāda Buddhism is widely practised in Thailand, while “Hindu deities and stories from Indian epics are also integrated into Thai royal ceremonies, dance forms and literature”. The two traditions sit side by side there, as they did in ancient India.