Table Of ContentNAT. HIST. BULL. SIAM Soc. 50(2): 211-224，2 002
PAYANAK AS A MYTHICAL ANIMAL AND AS THE LIVING
SPECIES REGALECUS GLESNE (OARFISH，R EGALECIDAE，
LA恥IPRIDIFOR島IES)
Tyson R. Robertsl
ABSTRACT
Them y出ica1anima1 payanak is represented in roofing omaments，st atuary and paintings
in Buddhist temp1es throughout Cambodia，Th ai1and and Laos. It usually has as ing1e dragon-
1ike head，w ith ah om on the snout and ab eard-1ike projection from the chin，a nd a1 0ng，
1imb1ess snake-or fish-1ike body covered with sca1es. A1though often referred to as an aga，it
is derived from the “e1ephant-1ion" or gajasimha of the Khmer king Suryavarman II (reigned
1113-ca1 150). The payanak is associated with numerous popu1ar accounts and 1egends of
Thai1and and Laos and is frequent1yp ortray巴din the popu1ar as well as temp1e aロofthese
countries.
Ap hotograph bearing the fa1se 1abe1 “Payanak，Q ueen of the Nagas，s eized by American
Army at Mekong River，L aos Mi1itary Base on June 27，1 973" has been wide1y distributed in
Laos，τllai1and，a nd e1sewhere. The photo in question actuaI1y is of af resh1y dead 0紅白sh，
Regalecus glesne，s tranded on Coronado Is1and，C a1ifomia，o n September 19，1 996
Kywords: ichthyo1atry; fish worshipping; ophio1atry; snake worshipping; bang fai payanak
巴
(naga fireballs); Phimeanakas naga cu1t;
INTRODUCTION
During their moming run on September 19，1 996，t wo SEAL instructors from the US
Naval Special Warfare Base on Coronado Island，so uthem Califomia，c ame across a仕eshly
beached silvery fish about 7.3 m long. Scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography
in nearby La Jolla examined the fish on the island. The head and tail were detached and
are prese円edin the Scripps collection of marine vertebrates (catalog no. SIO 9ι82).
Dr. Richard H. Rosenblatt of Scripps identified the species as the oarfish Regalecus glesne.
A photograph of the fish，h eld up by 30 members of the base' sf irst year class of
SEALS，w as taken by Scripps's Leo W. Smith and appeared in the San Diego Union
Tribune on 27 September 1996. The samep hoto was published subsequently in many other
newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. It was also printed on ap ostcard sold
by the Stephen Birch Aquarium of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
1As sociate，S mithsonian Tropica1 Research Institute
Received 9J u1y 2002; accepted 23 Sptmber2002.
巴 巴
211
212 TYSON R. ROBERTS
Sho託lythereafter，un authorized prints of出isphotograph started showing up in hotels，
restaurants，b ars，a nd shops in Vientiane，C hiengmai，I san，a nd Bangkok，a nd even in a
Chinese restaurant泊 Hawaii(LeoW . Smith，in li ，.t13 Aug. 2001). They were labelled in
Lao language and in English “Payanak";“Queen of Nagas seized by American Army at
Mekhong River，L aos Military Base on June 27，1 973 with the length of 7.80 meters"
(Fig. 1).官lephotograph thus labeled has been reproduced也官laiand English language
newspapers in Bangkok. Regalecus glesne is widely distributed in the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans but has never been found in the Mekong or in any other river. The members of the
family and order to which it belongs，R egalecidae and Lampriformes，ar e exclusively
marine. A better idea of the appearance of the species c組 begained 合omFig. 2.
MYTHOLOGICAL OR1GIN OF THE PAYANAK
Suryavm II(reigned 1113-ca1 150) is one of the greatest kings in Khmer history.
紅 釦
He united the Khmer kingdom，fo ught the Chams for over由国yyears，bu ilt Angkor Wat，
and paved the way for the reign of the Buddharaja Jayavarman VII (1181-1218). One of
the most powerful and certainly most enduring symbols of Suryavarman II's reign is the
gajasimha or “elephant-lion." Theg ajasimha of Suryavarman II gave rise to the distinctive
chofa or apica1 fmia1 characteristic of modern Buddhist temples in Thailand，L aos and
Cambodia (ROBERTS，20 02) and to modern versions of血eBurmese panca-rupa or pinca-
yupa. It also gave rise to the payanak.
Most authors have confused the gajasimha and payanak with naga. Naga is an ancient
Hindu mythological hooded snake with multiple heads based upon the cobra Naia naia
(Fig. 3). Gajasimha or“elephant lions" also orignated in India. They played ar elatively
minor role in Khmer紅tuntil the reign of Suryavarman II，w ho adopted白egajasimha as
his persona1 symbol. The origina1 conception of Suryavarman II's gajasimha is at etrapod
(four-legged) beast (Fig. 4). Most of its characters are mammalian. Itsh ead is rather lion-
like with lion-like m叩 e佃 djaws but with an elephant-like岡山.Elephant-like tusks may
also be present but usually are reduced in size.官lebody including legs，p aws and tail is
lion-like but bears snake-like scales on its sides and belly.τ'hes cales on the belly紅'ebroad
like the abdomina1 scales or gastrosteges of snakes. Numerous examples epresent in the
紅
bas-relief of the Churning 01 the Sea 01 Mi政 onthe southern wa11o f Angkor Wat，
SuryavmanII is depicted as the Hindu god Vishnu in this bas-relief. Gajasimha (a1ternative
紅
spell恒gga}倒的ha)is aS anskrit word composed of gaja (elephant) and simha (or sinha)
(lion). Inτ'hailand，wh ere it is the emblem of the Ministry of Defense，ga jasimha is known
as kochasi，a t erm derived directly from gajasimha. It is a1so referred to in Thai as kulen
and mangkorn.
The greatest iconographic innovation in Khmer history is replacement of the naga
Ananta or Sesha (the Infinite or Endless One) by ag ajasimha in bas-reliefs and statues of
Vishnu reclining on the Sea ザMilk(Fig. 5; ROBERTS，20 02a). The gajasimha in bas-reliefs
on numerous lintels depicting this scene differs from other gajasimha of Suryavarman II
only in that it has am ore elongate body to accommodate the reclining Vishnu. TheV ishnu
mounted on ag ajasimha in ancient Khmer bas-reliefs，a1 most invariably on lintels over
temple porta1so r doorways，a ppentlyalways represents SuryavmanII.
紅 紅
Suryavm IIa1so figures prominently in as ubstantia1 body of Buddhist iconography
紅 佃
，
問、lSÐIU吉mt{~J~lUlïwÐtJ1uus:川町、:> Oo5ufl 27 u1lU1UlI 2516 fl:)lU臼TJUS:lJlrU7.80 IlJt'lS
Anny at Mc~llOng Rivcr，L aos Mililary Base on Junc;27，1 973 with thc Icngth of 7.80 me日開
可
、』
て
』
(cid:631)〈
〉
弐
〉
Z
U
河
町
〔
』U
ト
町
内
c
h
c
ト
h
h
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町
Fig. I Photograph ofC oronaclo lslancl Regalec/'/s glesne or oartish lab巴llecl“Payanak"ancl “Queen of Nagas." CopyrightL eo William Smith.
M
-
u
214 TYSON R. ROsERTS
Fig.2 .R egalecusg lesne (drawingb yC a lrErdmannin Smitt，1 892: 3232，fi g.87 ).L ikein mostla rg巴speclmens
thec audalfi n ism issing.
that probably wasd one dllring hisl ifetime( ROsERTS，i n press). Thisi ncllld巴sstatlles of
BlIddha，A valokiteshvara，a nd Maitreyα(the flltllre BlIddha) tentatively identified as
SlIryavarman 11. There is also al intelw ith ab as-I巴ilefdepicting BlIddha (SlIryavarman 11)
sllbdllingM ara in which the lInderworld of Mω'a is inJlabitedb y gajasimha. Suryavar・man
lI'sd llal rolea s Vishnll and as BlIddha，a lthollgh lInllsual，is n ot illogical or surprising. It
should ber 巴calledthatH indush av巴longregarded Buddha as the ninth avαtar or incarnation
of Vishnu，a nd also that ancient Khmer reilgiont end巴dto beh ighly syncretic (BRIGGS，
1951;B OIssELaR，1 970).F or further discllssiono f Suryavarman 11 and hisg ajasunha see
ROBERTS，2 002a; 2002b.
Gajasimha m巴ntioned.int he PI巴cedingparagraph diff巴，rconsid巴rablyfrom payanak.
All havea n elephant-liket runk: and ar elativelys hort body with four legs. There is now
ab r巴akin the recorded historyo f th巴gajasimhαofabout onec entury，f rom Angkorean
Khmer temples of th巴 middl巴 thirt巴enthcentury to th巴 lat巴 fourteenthcentury Jinar勾a
Buddha of Mahatat Temple in Phitsanulok，Th ailand (Fig.6) . This beautiful statuew ith its
pair of gajasimha hash ad as ubstantiali mpact onS Olltheast Asian art history. It probably
was mad巴 n巴arthe end of th巴 fourteenthcentury，m ost likely in the years 1363-1369
(WOODWA即， 1997: 148). TheB lIddha is lodged within am akarα-mouth arcade fonned
by thea rching bodies ofa p air of olltwards-faci.ngg ajasunhα. The g勾a'1as幻1ηm1hαar陀巴 in mo幻st
1陀es叩p民ect臼s刊v巴r叩y山si.r凹mila紅rtωo 出th巴gα句jαS幻lηm仇1hαof SlI山Jrya肝lva創rm加an11. Them ain 副dif妊f巴引r巴nc巴βis出t ha瓜t出th巴
pos幻t巴引riωorpart of thei汀rbody ism uch moree longatea nd that it arch 巴ss trongly upward in
PA YANAK AND RECALECUS CLESNE 215
Fig. 3. Twelfth c巴ntllryclassicalK hll1巴rnaga CI巴pictecJas vehicleo f lh巴HincJllgod Varllna
(AngkorW at)
Fig.4. Tw巴Ifthc巴nturygajasimhao f Suryavarll1an 11 cJrawingc hariotin battles cen巴(Angkor
Wat)
216 TYSON R. ROBERTS
rder textend ver the Buddha figure. Significantly the hind pair fl egs are missing. All
'O 'O 'O 'O
that is needed f'Ort hese gajasimha t'O bec'Omep ayanak is f'Ort he elephant-like trunk t'O be
transf'Ormed泊t'Oah 'Om and f'Ort he fr'Ont pair 'Ofl egs t'O be l'Ost. This is clearly evident in
numer'Ous depicti'Ons 'Ofp ayanak，as f'Ore xample the pair issuing fr'Om the m'Outh 'OfR ahu
in am 'Odem temple painting fr'Om Wat Neua，K hemerat，' Ont he Mek'Ong River in n'Ortheast
Thailand (Fig. 7) and in vari'Ous f'Orms 'Of百 ai“p'Opart" (Figs. 8-9).
Subsequent representati'Ons 'Ofp ayanak may have been c'Onsci'Ously 'Ors ubc'Onsci'Ously
m dified in an effrt trevert tthe lder cncept ft he multi-headed phidian nagas. It
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
is perhaps unnecessYtseek prfund mythlgica1 rh istrica1 explanatins frt he
釘 'O 'O'O 'O'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
c'Onversi'On' Oft he gajasimha elephant-like trunk t'O the payanak h'Om. Ceramic and 'Other
sculptures 'Ofg ajasimha 'Often have the slender pr'Ojecting trunk br'Oken 'Off at 'Orn e紅白e
base. In numer'Ous instances gajasimha have had血自国nkinappr'Opriately rest'Ored as a
h'Om，p resumably because the pers'Onr est'Oring it did n'Otk n'Ow出e'Origina1 f'Orm.
NAGAA NDP AYANAK FOLKLORE AND LEGENDS
La'O and τ'hai pe'Ople，i ncluding Buddhist m'Onks wh'O紅'ethe main culture bearers 'Of
payanak myth'Ol'Ogy， usually equate payanak with the better-kn'Own nagas even th'Ough
histrica11y they 'eentirely distinct. Classica1 Hindu and Khmer nagaswhich g back in
'O 訂 ， 'O
time way bef'Ore the payanak and the gajasimha 'OfS uryavarman 11，紅'emulti-headed
supematura1 cbras attaining immense size. Their m hlgica1characters are exclusively
'O 'O中 'O'O
reptilian and snake-like. This kind fn agausually with an dd number ffr m 3t 9
'O ， 'O 'O 'O 'O
heads，w i出 thecentral head 1釘gest，is血.e'Only myth'Ol'Ogica1 snake-like naga in India up
t epresent. It was e nly kind fn aga in the ancient Khmer kingdm in Cambdia
'O血 白 'O 'O 'O 'O ，
which ended arund 1431.
'O
Thepのanakis n'Ow the m'Ore usua1 c'Oncept 'Ofn aga泊Thailandand La'Os. S'Ome 'Of
the many stries and .legends abut it may be summarized here. Such accunts ften
'O 'O 'O ， 'O
c'Onsiderably elab'Orated，釘erelated by m'Onks t'O their f'Oll'Owers and printed泊 numer'Ous
La'O and Thai language pamphlets and b'O'Oklets. Origin 'Oft he name payanak is uncertain.
It is perhaps f'Ormed合omphraya 'Orp haya，a n 'Orthem Thai and La'Otian term f'Ork ing 'Or
r'Oyalty，組dnak，f' Orn aga. In m'Odem Khmer 'OrC amb'Odian payanak is kn'Own as niya.
In Thailand and Lasb eliefs cnceming the lder naga have been transferred t
'O 'O 'O 'O
payanak.百lerelati'Onship between payanak and Buddha is manif'Old. Bef'Ore being b'Om in
human frm theGautama rt he Enlightened OneBuddha had m yprevius nn-
'O 儲 'O ， 釦 'O 'O
human lives ri ncarnatins. One ft hese was as an aga king named Puritat.百lisis ne
'O 'O 'O 'O
reas'Onh e has a1ways held such sway 'Over出enagas. S'Omewhere in n'Orthem La'Ost here
is am untain l kslike ah uge sculpture fa n aga with seven heads and seven cils.
'O 白紙 'O'O 'O 'O
Them untain actually is Puritat wh tumed int stne when his meditatins ucceeded
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
and he was rebm as Buddha. Tw naga kingsNanda and Upanandalvingly bathed
'O 'O ， ， 'O
the infant Buddha immediately after his bir白， first with warm water and由enwith c'O'Ol
water.
Nagas genera11y紅'epresented泊Buddhistliterature as dev'Out w'Orshippers 'OfB uddha.
Neither g'Ods n'Orm an n'Ora nima1sc an resist曲eh'Oly influence 'Oft he Blessed One; the
nagas t whcmbine the naωre ft he three kinds fb eings 'ewn ver by his wrd
'O'O， 'O 'O 'O 'O ，釘 'O 'O 'O
(VOGEL，1 926: 93). Under his influence they become gentle，a ccept his doctrine，a nd cease
PAYANAK AND REGALECUS GLESNE 217
Fig. 5. Vishnll reclining ona g (!iαsimha (Narai
Taplong lint巴1，Phnolll RlIng，Th ailand)
Fig. 6. Fourt巴巴nlhcenturyg ajasimha (Jinaraja
Buddha，W at Mahatat，P hitsanulok，
Thailand)
218 TYSON R. ROIlERTS
Fig. 7. Twentieth c巴nlurypayallak issuingf rom mouth of Raju;a s ortof florald esignh as 1巴placedlh巴frontpail
0 '1legs presenl in g旬。simha(WalN eua，K hemeral，n OI出eastTha iIa n d)
Fig.9 .P ayanak 011 Thai match-box.N OI巴 fish-liketai .l
fig. 8. Payallak on covero fn ovel“Mekong" by Pongpol
Adireksarn (pen name Paul Adirex). Although the
payallak looksv erys nake-ilk巴 andis1 巴ferred10 as
“naga"b yA direx， li isd erivedf rom Ihem ammailan
g.cりasilllilaofS uryavannanI L
PAYANAK ANDR EGALECUS GLESNE 219
harming man and other creatures. Finding mankind unwilling to accept his doctrine of
Sunyata or Void，B uddha gave it to the nagas to hold in回 stuntil humans became
receptive. Seeing Buddha's relicts neglected，th e nagas saved some of his hairs to give to
mankind later. After seven centuries the sage Nagaりunaappeared and brought the
Prajnaparamita Sutra on Sunyata from the nagas to mankind. Nagas sometimes appear in
human form to listen to the sermons of Buddhist monks. Nagas can understand all human
languages. They also have their own language，na gakrit or nak-kit.
One of the most enduring Khmer Buddhist images is Buddha meditating in the forest
while protected from storms by the naga king Mucilenda. In Lao and Thai statues of
Buddha Mucilenda出enaga usually has 5o r 7h eads. In Buddha Muclilenda in出e
Schwedogon Temple in Yangon and elsewhere in Myanmar Mucilenda is portrayed as a
payanak. This Burmese payanak has as ingle head，f orelimbs present or absent，b ody
elongate，a h orn on the snout，a nd ab eard on the chin.τ'heb eard is divided in two; the
two halves either diverge or wrap around each other like the tails of two nagas.
百leking and queen of the nagas or payanaks and their entourages紅巳livingnow. The
subterranean palace where they stay most of the time extends beneath the Mekong River
up-and down-stream from Vientiane. They can come to the surface by means of various
secret holes or openings. These openings cannot be found by ordinyhumans but e
釘 釘
sometimes found by monks. One monk entered the underground palace from ah ole on the
Lao side of the Mekong and left it from ah ole in百lailand.Payanak occasionally come
out of the palace at night to sport in the Mekong River. At such times their snorts can be
seen as flashes of light on the water surface. Many Thai and Lao people and foreign
tourists have seen these lights，k nown as bang fai payanak.
Eye-witnesses who observed naga or payanak swimming in the Mekong in the vicinity
of Salakoktan，o n the outskirts of Vientiane were interviewed by Alan Davidson while he
was the British Ambassador to Laos. They observed the creatures undulating about “on
that day of the ye whenthe water of the Mekong first begins to subside after the rainy
紅
season." One observer who saw血istwice，o nce with binoculars，es timated the size of the
creatures泊 relationto ac anoe which was about出esame distance away as 20ー25meters.
He reported ar ed band on the neck about 40 cm down from出ehead，w hich looked
precisely like白紙 ofas e叩ent(DAVIDSON，1 975: 100).
Bang fai payanak may be translated as“Opayanak fireballs." The English translation
usually given is“naga fireballs." This is another instance of the prevalent conflation of the
two my血ologicalentities. According to some people the fireballs釘ethe snorting of the
payanak paying their respect to the Lord Buddha. Others suggest that they are produced
by fireworks or tracer bullets，o r from the spontaneous release of natural gas deposits in
the bed of the Mekong River.
Payanak lived in Southeast Asia long before humans settled there and even before the
Mekong River was formed. Two payanak kings living in出earea now known as Yunnan
fought aw ar. Thel osing king Srisattanak and his troops fled from Yunnan by going
underground and burrowing all the way to the sea. Their meandering pathway became the
Mekong River.
Naga maidens，k nown as nagakanya or nagi，al so can assume human form. They are
chming，gracious，be autiful and seductive. Amorous and matrimonial alliances between
釘
them and humans are pa口ofthe founding mythology of various kingdoms including the
ancient Khmer kingdom of Cambodia. Numerous nagi，s ome mounted on gajasimha and
220 TYSON R. ROBERTS
other aquatic beasts of the underworld，m ay be seen in bas-reliefs lining the Hidden
Passageway in the Terrace of the Leper King near Angkor Wat (Figs. 1011)and on the
ー
wall enclosing the pond in the Royal Enclosure north of Phimeanakas.
Naga worship or ophiolatry (snake worship) apparently played as ignificant role in the
lives of ancient Khmer kings. When the Chinese emissary Zhou Daguan visited the Khmer
capital in 1296，h e was told that ag olden tower inside the palace (identified by modem
scholars as the Phimeanakas) was the abode of the spirit of an ine-headed snake (nagar可，吋
that owned all of the land of the kingdom. Every night the nagaraja materialized as a
woman (nagi) with whom the king slept during the first quarter of the night. If the king
failed to come just one night calamity would befall him. If one night the spirit did not
materialise as an agi it meant the king would die (SMIT回目， 2001:23).
The exterior wall of the royal pond adjacent to the Phimeanakas temple is decorated
by bas-reliefs with the repeated motif of ac entral figure apparently representing ak ing，
with an agi and then as even-headed naga on巴itherside. The Hidden Passageway in the
Terrace of the Leper King，l ined for its entire length with bas-reliefs of nagi and large
nine-headed nagas，pr esumably was related to the naga cult of the Phimeanakas. The nagi
are recognizable as such due to their head-dress in the form of am ulti-headed naga or naka
(Fig. 10). That they are nagi is also indicated by their footless snake-like lower extremity.
They are usually depicted in sitting position with the tail descretely folded beneath them.
These bas-reliefs support the hear-say account of the Phimeanakas naga cult reported by
Zhou Daguan.
Three nagi near one of the entrances to the Hidden Passageway are mounted on
gajasimha-like anirnals. These animals have well-developed forelimbs but lack the hindlimbs.
In one of them the body ends in af ish-like forked tail. In two of them the body ends in
an elongated snake-like tail (Fig. 11). Both types may be considered as precursors to the
payanak.
Like their snake-like naga predecessors，pa yanak are associated with rainfall，ag ricultural
productivity，a nd fertility. They are the guardian spirits of the annual Songkhran festival
in Laos and Thailand，p ropitiated for their power to bring the monsoon rains (Fig. 12).
Payanak，li ke naga are equally at home in the sea. Varuna，th e Buddhist as well as Hindu
version of Neptune or King of the Sea is also an agara，jα，w ith an aga or payαnak as his
vahana or vehicle (Fig. 4).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Whereas gajasimha is displayed in Hindu as well as Buddhist iconography，p ayanak
appears only in Buddhist iconography. By the time payanak evolved from gajasimha，
Buddhism was rapidly exp dingin mainland Southeast Asia while Hinduism had practically
叩
died out. Angkor Wat has numerous bas-reliefs depicting multi-headed nagas and gαrjasimha
but none depicting payanak because it had not yet evolved from the gajasimha. The
payanαka s well as the Suryavarman 11 version of g勾asimhareached Myanm訂 butapparently
failed to reach India. In Myanmar，w hich apparently gained much of its Buddhist traditions
from Southeast Asia，n agas (or naya) usually appear in the form of modified gajasimha or
payanak (as in Schwedogon Temple in Yangon).
While nagas are almost invariably represented with mutltiple heads，g ajasimha and by
extension payanak may be represented either by single or multiple heads. Multiple-headed
