Cambodian Ramayana

The Cambodian version of the epic Ramayana is known as ‘Reamker.’ There are references of Ramayan in Cambodian culture from the tenth century AD. The literary text of Khmer adaptation dates back to the 16^th century.

Ramayana might have reached Cambodia through the contact with the South Indian kingdoms. Ancient Hindu temples here provide the earliest references of Ramayan and the world famous Angkor Wat temple depicts various episodes from the epic.

In Reamker, Lord Ram is known as ‘Preah Ream’ and Ravana is known as ‘Krong Reap.’ Sita is called ‘Neang Seda’ and Lakshman is called ‘Preah Leak.’ The name of Hanuman is the same but with a slightly different pronunciation.

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