REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Thailand
YEAR PRINTED: 1981
VALUE: 5 baht
This stamp, issued by the Thai government in 1981, is one of a set of four celebrating the tradition khon masks used in the Ramakien theater. This stamp depicts the character Indrajit, a giant demon and one of the sons of the epic’s antagonist, Totsakan.
REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Thailand
YEAR PRINTED: 1981
VALUE: 75 satang
This stamp, issued by the Thai government in 1981, is one of a set of four celebrating the tradition khon masks used in the Ramakien theater. This stamp depicts the character Ongkhot, a powerful monkey prince who could increase his size to terrifying proportions and who assisted Rama in recovering his wife Sita. The value, 75 satang, is equivalent to three-quarters of a baht.
REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Thailand
YEAR PRINTED: 2007
VALUE: 10 baht
This stamp, issued by the Thai government in 2007 alongside a set of four 3-baht stamps, celebrates the masks of Pee Ta Khon (sometimes written Phi Takhon). Pee Ta Khon is the traditional fertility festival of the village of Dan Sai, located in the north-central part of the country near the border with Laos. The frightening ghost masks are made of elaborately painted palm spathes with wicker rice strainers mounted as hats.
REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Thailand
YEAR PRINTED: 2007
VALUE: 3 baht x4
This stamp set of four, issued by the Thai government in 2007, celebrates the masks of Pee Ta Khon (sometimes written Phi Takhon). Pee Ta Khon is the traditional fertility festival of the village of Dan Sai, located in the north-central part of the country near the border with Laos. The frightening ghost masks are made of elaborately painted palm spathes with wicker rice strainers mounted as hats.
REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Thailand
YEAR PRINTED: 2013
VALUE: 3 baht sheet of 3 or 12
This set of eight different stamps, issued by the Thai government in 2013, celebrates the tradition khon masks used in the Ramakien theater. Each mask depicted is a masterwork of considerable age. The stamps were issued in sheets of either three or twelve, in each case bearing stamps valued at 3 baht.
TITLE: Totsakan Khon Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Thailand
SUBREGION: Bangkok
ETHNICITY: Thai
DESCRIPTION: Totsakan (Green) Khon
CATALOG ID: ASTH004
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Ramakien Dance Drama
AGE: 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: paper maché
OTHER MATERIALS: plaster; gilding; mirrors; paint; mother-of-pearl teeth; wooden fangs
The Ramakien is the Thai adaptation of the traditional Hindu epic from India, the Ramayana. Most male characters in the drama wear masks fashioned from paper maché and elaborately gilded, decorated, and painted.
This mask represents the demon king Totsakan, also written Tosakanth (or Ravana in Hindi), who is supposed to have 100 faces and 20 hands. His face is green during most of the play, but when he ascends to power his face turns gold. Totsakan is the villain at the center of the Ramakien, as he abducts Sita, the beautiful wife of the hero, King Rama. The remainder of the play focuses on Rama’s efforts, with his loyal demigod ally Hanuman, to rescue Sita and punish Totsakan.
For more on Thai khon masks, see Natthapatra Chandavij & Promporn Pramualratana, Thai Puppets and Khon Masks (Bangkok: River Books, 1998).
