| Abstract: |
Thai manuscript painting covers a wide range of topics, which include Buddhist themes such as the Ten Birth Tales, the life of the Buddha, the Traiphum cosmology and the legend of Phra Malai, but also yantra designs and horoscope making (phrommachat). Besides this, there exist finely illustrated manuscripts dealing with real and mythical animals, traditional medicine, literature, warfare and geography. My aim here is to explore representations of the female in illustrated Buddhist manuscripts from central Thailand held in the collections of the British Library. Whereas the written text in a Buddhist manuscript may not always pay much attention – or none at all – to the female, the illustrations often depict male and female beings, and sometimes the relationships between them, in a well-balanced manner.
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