Rama shoots arrow to call Garuda for aid (Thai Ramayana mural)

Rama shoots arrow to call Garuda for aid (Thai Ramayana mural)

Rama shoots an arrow into the sky to call the Garuda King for aid, as seen in a mural at the Emerald Buddha Temple. As Rama's monkey troops lie struggling on the ground with serpents at left, Rama stands on one foot and gracefully releases an arrow signal into the sky. The arrow calls his ally, the Garuda King, a bird deity seen in the upper right above a scenic forest landscape.

In the Ramayana, Garuda answers tha arrow signal by flying down to attack the serpents plaguing Rama's troops. In the right section of this frame--just over the bushes from the scene where they struggle with serpents, Rama, Laksman and the monkey troops are continuing on their journey through the forest.