“The mural in the calm hall of Bangkok's Wat Somanas Rajavaravihara shows a couple whose shining traditional-Siamese royal garments add to the painting's golden flow, brightening the temple premises - even though they sit in a cavern. The handsome man smiles in pleasure as he speaks to the beautiful young woman. Yet she draws her arm from his reach, lowering her face to hide a shy smile of her own.
The scene is from "Inao and Bussaba in the Cave", part of the lyrics that King Rama II wrote for his classical royal dance-drama "Inao". It's been called one of the most beautiful poems in Thai literature, and in fact its rhythm inspired the elegant dance movements and dazzling music of the play.
The story of Inao, the handsome Prince of Kurepan, and Bussaba, his beautiful fiancee from Daha, has been told and retold for centuries throughout old Malaya, which today covers Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
It has varied somewhat and gone by different names depending on the location, but most Thais know it from high-school literature, or they're heard the proverbs it fostered. The most famous is "People criticise you for what they do themselves", referring to Inao chastising other men for making war to win the heart of Bussaba and then turning around and doing precisely the same thing.”
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