By talking to people and reading the literature, I have learned that the Thai royal household still maintains the royal "rajguru", the family priest of Hindu tradition. Buddha himself was groomed by the Brahmin priests and there is no prescriptive information in Buddhism as to how a King should conduct business. The practice has been systematized through Hindu scriptures and traditions, formally scribed by Valmiki in Ramayana. Out of the important tasks for Brahmins is the creation of the astrological chart for the King'sreign and predicting the auspicious moment to assume the throne and to initiate important tasks.. After being installed in such manner the Kings follow Buddhistic rules to administer the kingdom. The reign can go smooth and confidence on the astrological prediction can increase. To be a King is the most vulnerable job in the world. A King looks for all chances not to be dethroned! For unpredictable ambitious adventures, astrology is a support! Brahmins do maintain a grip on such predictions in India. Wedding, events, ceremonies, assemblies - all get guided by astrology. Astrology is the window to the future for many. Brahmins carry a special hand in these to generate the "correct" maps. A whole mathematical science has developed to predict the future. Some astrologers would boast about their accurate predictions. Nobody maintains any statistics! There is good money in the business.
Worldly life can get overwhelming through errors in conduct. Most look for external relief. Hope is life! I am glad that Brahmins have a foothold in the royal quarters. I am a Brahmin and somebody from my ancestral family might be doing the honor in the palace. Traditional honorifc Brahmins are expected to be extremely learned, well versed in scriptures, pure in heart and mind, and devoid of any material longings. A traditional Brahmin lives through gifts and donations.
Some kings do make land grants to the Brahmins. My ancestors lived through those. My father thought it fit to immerse himself in India's freedom movement than managing land with the associated Brahminical duties. In adult life, I studied Sanskrit to fulfill my personal duties to my ancestors! The books suggest that the ocean traffic both to the east and west of India has a history of thousands of years. The east coast traffic possibly spread to Java and Bali in Indonesia and then returned to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. As I noticed Thailand is possibly the youngest among the settlements. It is still alive with the Hindu rituals. I learned that Thai people follow the Hindu code of law following their Buddhist faith. I am told Bali has the majority Hindu population in its tiny island.
Colonization as a concept bothers me. One has to win over the local people and occupy their land. Spread of faith or empire, or income production through exploitation are possible motives for colonization. Earlier Islamic invasions to India were for exploitation, the Moghuls were for colonization. The British came for trade and then colonized and exploited. The latter can happen when the colonizer does not identify with the local culture and feels superior for whatever reason. The modern day examples are many!
I cannot imagine what the Kalingans might have done. They probably traded and then settled in since the climate and food suited them. Their religion was accepted by the locals, but possibly it was not easy to maintain. So in course of time the tenets of the religion faded away and new faith system took over. The languages merged, but the cultural objects carried names in Indian language. A script developed emulating the Indian scripts and the transliterated words sounded different than the Indian words. Further distortion happened through accent, missionaries and the new western education.
I packed my luggage and retired. I had to take a flight to Cambodia at 7 AM. I came to the hotel lobby at 4:30 AM and cleared the bills. There, I met two Indian businessmen who wanted to share a ride to the airport. I agreed and we took our hour-long ride to Bangkok's Subarnabhumi airport. I realized the Oriya name for the land could have been Subarnabhumi, "the land of gold." The businessmen were tense, they did not have any interest in me. I tried to engage them about issues on India, they avoided discussion. In business, you must watch your words when meeting strangers! Indians do not do pep-talk like the westerners do.
The check-in was easy and I proceeded to a part of the airport that caters to the flights for the neighboring countries. A stunning sculpture of "Samudra Manthana" (churning of the ocean) from the Hindu mythology decorated the hall that led to the gates. It was a picture site for the travelers. I took a picture, but could not capture the whole length of it. I wondered why such sculptures do not exist in Indian airports! They are meaningful and spectacular. They are excellent "show and tell" to the children. I reflected on the cosmology depicted in the picture.
