Every year The Support Foundation’s annual Royal Khon performance plays a major role in conserving the national performance art through the staging of a spectacular show. This year it’s even more special: besides renewing the art of making of khon costumes, ornaments and settings, the performance has helped restore an ancient weaving technique of Muang Nakhon brocades which were worn by royals and the elite in the past.
“Every year, the foundation’s khon performance has been supported by several handicraft centres in various areas in terms of costumes and clothing materials made by villagers,” said Thanpuying Charungjit Teekara, assistant to the secretary-general of the Support Foundation under Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s Royal Patronage and the chairwoman of this year’s khon performance. “This is the fruit of the royal kindness of Her Majesty the Queen who wished for the revival of the brocades of Nakorn Srithammarat province. The art has been missing for over a century and a few of the old brocades can be found only in museums or at the Grand Palace.”
This year, the performance will present an episode from Ramakien (the Thai version of Ramayana) called The Battle Of Indrajit: Prommas. The show, which features costumes newly created from this old weaving tradition, starts on Nov 7.
According to Thanpuying Charungjit, the foundation has been developing the weaving skills of more than 40 members at the Ban Noen Thammang Handicraft Centre in Chian Yai district and the Ban Trok Khae Handicraft Centre in Cha-uat district, Nakhon Si Thammarat, to produce brocades. As a result, more brocades have been seen in the royal khon performance. The foundation is so proud of the project because it has created jobs for the members and also conserves the tradition of brocade weaving.
Veeratham Tragoolngernthai, Costume and Ornaments Designer for the Royal Khon Performance, said: “Her Majesty the Queen commanded the reintroduction of Muang Nakhon brocades which were used in royal palaces from the late Ayutthaya Period to the reigns of King Rama V and King Rama VI. Such brocades were very famous and reserved for royals and the elite, but later disappeared. Since the big change of fashion in the reign of King Rama V, gold brocades gradually vanished.”
Brocades are silk fabrics woven with a special technique which highlight motifs. Silk brocades of Nakhon Si Thammarat, explains Veeratham, have been famous since the Ayutthaya Period as royal palace textiles which were neatly woven with a blend of fine silk, silver and gold threads. The structure of special motifs called thong pha (front part of cloth) and kruai choeng (cone) is specially designed and reserved for senior members of the royal family only. Such brocades could be worn as either jongkraben or pha jeeb (pleated sarong) and were also used in wrapping Buddhist scriptures. The colours and patterns of Muang Nakhon brocades indicate the status of the wearers.
Laemthong Siphu, senior artisan of the Queen Sirikit Institute in Chitralada Villa, said a unique quality of Muang Nakhon brocades is the way each silk thread must be dyed in a different colour and a number of threads must be fixed in specific positions in order to yield particular motifs as planned.
Such brocades are special for sporting very delicate square-shaped motifs rather than circular and oval patterns. The pikul (bullet wood flower) motif for these brocades are in large and small sizes and sometimes decorated with foliage motifs. In addition, these brocades mostly sport three-tiered cones which are reserved for royals, especially those in red. In addition, some brocades contain the jasmine ivy motif which is very rare and reserved for senior officials only.
Phra Ram and Sita wear Muang Nakhon gold brocades.
To Veeratham, the complicated production almost led to the end of Muang Nakhon brocades. Fortunately, Her Majesty the Queen, who regularly visited people in the South, supported local villagers to earn extra income by weaving cotton fabrics and making baskets and artificial flowers. In 1994, the Queen learned that the weaving of Muang Nakhon brocades was at the brink of extinction, so she commanded a revival through teaching the weaving of Surin’s brocades to local villagers.
He recalled that in a bid to enliven Muang Nakhon brocades, instructors of the foundation went to study the motifs of brocades kept in the Nakhon Si Thammarat National Museum to figure out the motif design and weaving technique. They later taught around 20 members of the Ban Noen Thammang Handicraft Centre.
The instructors began teaching a number of members seven years ago to prepare and dye silk threads using natural colours extracted from plants first. After that, they taught those members to prepare patterns and to weave. Those with cotton weaving experience started to weave brocades about four years ago. The number of Muang Nakhon brocade weavers has grown to around 100.
Laemthong recalled that he started to study the patterns of more than 10 Muang Nakhon brocades from November 2008 to early 2009 for conservation first. It took over a month for him to study the motifs and figure out the weaving technique and another six months for him to teach 10 students to weave. Later, these students honed their skills and taught about 50 new students.
Consequently, Her Majesty the Queen commanded the use of Muang Nakhon brocades in the royal khon performances. In 2010, the trained members began weaving Muang Nakhon brocades for the royal Khon performances. They are able to produce about 40 brocades each year and so far have woven more than 100 brocades. These brocades have replaced an amount of foreign brocades. Since the reign of King Rama VI, brocades have been imported from India for making Khon costumes.
These members later taught about 30 members of the Support Foundation’s two handicraft centres in Ang Thong and Sing Buri to weave Muang Nakhon brocades.
Producing a Muang Nakhon brocade takes a few months to complete and the weaving process requires the labour of five people — one weaver and four assistants.
Aree Larnphet, a Muang Nakhon brocade weaver from the Ban Noen Thammang Handicraft Centre, recalled that she had been jobless before she applied for the centre’s founder membership and learned cotton weaving in 1994 along with 11 other local women. Today, the number of members is 100 and 26 of them are silk weavers.
Veeratham taught her to weave Muang Nakhon brocades. It took almost a year for her to complete her first brocade. Later, she finished weaving the next few fabrics in two months. At present, she spends two months weaving each brocade.
“Now, several people know how to weave Muang Nakhon brocades. I went to teach eight other members in Ang Thong. Today, 40 members from Sing Buri know how to do it. I am positive that this art of weaving brocades will not become extinct because several people can do it and must continually weave brocades for the royal khon performances,” she added.
Veeratham said “at present, members of the Support Foundation’s Ban Noen Thammang and Ban Trok Khae Handicraft Centres who have developed their craft from cotton weaving to silk weaving, can weave Muang Nakhon gold brocades beautifully. This is a way of conserving the brocades and creating income for the foundation members in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Since ancient times, this province has been a major source of Muang Nakhon brocades. In the royal khon performance in 2014, up to 43 gold brocades from both handicraft centres were used by a number of khon performers and replaced imported fabrics”.
This year, Her Majesty the Queen has selected the Ramakien’s The Battle of Indrajit: Prommas episode to be re-performed after this episode impressed the audience in 2007 and 2009. This performance puts together the story penned by King Rama II, the concert script written by Prince Narisara Nuvadtivongs and the Chui Chai script written by King Rama VI. So far, the Support Foundation has held six episodes of khon performances including Prommas, Nang Loi, The Battle Of Maiyarap, Jong Tanon, The Battle Of Kumbhakarn And The Battle Of Mokasak, and The Battle of Indrajit: Nakabas with great success.
Veeratham noted that this year gold brocades were specially woven for about three months for the leading character named Mangkornkan, a giant who fought Phra Ram to buy time for Indrajit, a son of Thotsakan, to prepare the Prommas arrow for the forthcoming battle. “The national performance art of khon has been brought back to its past glory by Her Majesty the Queen. So have the gold brocades. Four years ago was the first time in Thai history for the leading khon characters such as Phra Ram and Phra Lak to have opportunities to wear gold brocades. Today, almost all the major characters wear gold brocades,” Veeratham remarked.
The Battle of Indrajit: Prommas performance will be held from Nov 7 to Dec 6 at the Main Hall, Thailand Cultural Centre. Tickets are available at Thai Ticket Major Tel 02-262-3456 or www.thaiticketmajor.com at the prices of 620, 820, 1,020, and 1,520 baht and the special price of 120 baht for students (no show on Mondays).
Visit www.khonperformance.com.
Weaving a Muang Nakhon brocade.
A Muang Nakhon gold brocade.
