Hanuman and the Underworld Star
(Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok)
Hanuman learns from a star that he is fighting his own son, as seen on a mural detail at the Emerald Buddha Temple.
Hanuman, in his eight-armed form, looks up from battling a fish-tailed enemy to see a small gold twinkling star above him in the dark sky. As he holds up his sword and trident in mid-air, the star reveals that the enemy he is about to harm is his own son by Ravana’s mermaid daughter. Hanuman’s mermaid son crawls near his feet, also looking up at the star. Once the father and son hear the star’s news, they immediately recognize each other and stop fighting.
