page_title: Sang Sinxay
section_title: Plot summary
hierarchical_section_title: Sang Sinxay / Plot summary
caption_attribution_description: English: This mural shows a pivotal time in the story of Sinxay when it is made clear Sinxay's six brothers are cowards, seen here hiding behind Siho. This photograph of a mural detail was taken at Wat Sanuan Wari in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Most of the murals at this small wat were painted over 100 years ago and feature scenes from Sinxay. Because of the degraded condition of the murals (due to bird feces and chipped and faded paint) this photograph has been retouched in Photoshop to try to approximate what the painting might have looked like.
context_page_description: Sang Sinxay, is a Lao epic poem written by Pang Kham. It tells the story of the hero Sinxay who goes on a quest to rescue his aunt Soumountha who was abducted by the demon Nyak Koumphan. The poem is believed to have been written sometime between the mid-16th and the end of the 17th century in the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. Sang Sinxay is considered one of the three masterpieces of Lao literature. The poem is popular in Laos and in the Isan region of Thailand, where its scenes are also depicted on numerous temples.
context_section_description: Phanya Kousarath is the king of Muang Pengchan, a powerful kingdom. He and his wife, Nang Chanta, are unable to have children. The king’s sister, Soumountha, is abducted by a demon called Nyak Koumphan, ruler of a far-away kingdom of ogres. Phanya Kousarath, after becoming a Buddhist monk, embarks on a journey to find his sister. An abbot at a temple tells him that only someone with a lineage to Buddha or Indra would be able to defeat Nyak Koumphan. After being reinstated as king, Phanya Kousarath meets and marries the seven sisters he met on the monks’ morning alms. He asks them to pray to the gods for pregnancy, in order to give birth to an extraordinary child with the power to rescue Soumountha. Nang Chanta and Nang Lun pray together to Indra, who hears their prayers and chooses three of his sons to come down to earth.
  Nang Lun gives birth to two twins: Sangthong (ສັງທອງ), who has the body of a conch shell, and Sinxay, ( “he who will triumph by his virtues”), who holds a sword, bow and arrows. Nang Chanta gives birth to Siho (ສີໂຫ), a boy with the body of a lion and the head of an elephant, while the other six sisters give birth to normal looking human sons. Lun and Chanta and their sons are banished from the palace because of the babies’ strange appearance. They are left in the forest, where Indra sees their hardships and builds a small palace for them. When Nang Lun returns Sinxay's weapons to him, the young man demonstrates his power by shooting two arrows. The first lands in the kingdom of the khut (garuda in Thai), while the second one lands in the kingdom of the nagas. Both kings lead millions of their followers to Sinxay’s palace, pledging their service to him.
  
  Once the six brothers have become young men, Phanya Kousarath sends them on a quest to find the power needed to rescue Soumountha. After getting lost in the forest, they are led by Indra to Sinxay’s palace. Through deception, they convince Sinxay to make all the animals in the forest appear at the palace in Muang Pengchan. They use this to convince their father that they have gained the magical powers they were seeking.
   The king sends them on a quest to rescue his sister. They end up at Sinxay’s palace again, and trick him into believing he is the one chosen by the king for the quest. The six brothers, Sinxay, Sangthong and Siho leave together, but upon meeting a giant snake the six flee in terror while Siho and Sinxay kill the snake. When they arrive at a river, the six brothers refuse to proceed further. Sinxay leaves Siho to protect them, and sets off to rescue Soumountha along with Sangthong.
  In his journey, Sinxay meets many obstacles, some of which set on his course by Nyak Koumphan. He also encounters the fabled Nariphon tree, jealously guarded by Phanyathone. After enjoying the nariphon and having to fight the phanyathone, Sinxay comes upon Ton Kalapheuk, the mythical Wishing Tree, covered in jewels and hand woven silk textiles. He chooses one textile to keep, along with a set of royal clothes to wear when meeting Soumountha. He also meets a group of kinnari, and falls in love with one of them, Kiengkham. He leaves her after seven days with the promise of returning to marry her. 
  Finally Sinxay and Sangthong reach Nyak Koumphan’s palace, where they meet their aunt Soumountha, only to discover she has fallen in love with Koumphan and does not want to go back to Muang Pengchan. Sinxay shoots an arrow, whose power makes Koumphan fall into a deep sleep. After leading Soumountha to a cave created by Indra, Sinxay and Sangthong go back to Koumphan’s palace, and try to kill him while he sleeps. Every time they slice off their head, though, seven more nyaks appear. Sinxay then shoots an arrow that burns many of the nyaks and makes the remaining ones flee into the forest.
  After retrieving Soumountha and finding a palace in the forest created for them by Indra, the two brothers are surrounded by millions of nyaks. After two great battles Sinxay manages to kill Koumphan. Soumountha then asks Sinxay to rescue her daughter, Sidachan, who is now the wife of 
caption: Sinxay and Siho fight the Giant Snake, depicted on a mural at Wat Sanuan Wari.
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