Khon (, ) is a dance drama genre from Thailand. Khon has been performed since the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
It is traditionally performed solely in the royal court by men in masks accompanied by narrators and a traditional piphat ensemble. A variation of this genre with female performers is called khon phu ying (โขนผู้หญิง).
History
Khon is a Thai traditional dance which combines many arts like dance and drama. The provenance of Khon was based on
Ramayana and later developed to
Ramakien in the Thai style. Moreover it is mentioned in Thai literature's
Lilit Phra Lo (c. 1529) which was written before the era of
Narai.
[Sri Venkatesvara University, Oriental Research Institute. (2004). Sri Venkateswara University Oriental Journal Vol. 47. p. 23. "In the reign of King Narai, Monsieur de La Loubere, French ambassador to Siam, wrote about the Khon performance in which performers wore masks."
]
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Klamcharoen, A.. (1993). Sunthariyanattasin Thai สุนทรียนาฏศิลป์ไทย. (2nd ed.). Bangkok: OdiantStore. . p. 37. "คําว่า “โขน” ในหนังสือลิลิตพระลอในงานฉลองพระศพของพระลอ และพระเพื่อนพระแพงว่า “ขยายโรงโขนโรงรํารําระทาราวเทียน” ดังที่ได้กล่าวแล้ว “โขน” ได้มีมานานแล้วก่อนรัชสมัยสมเด็จพระนารายณ์"
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Phraiphibunyakit, N.. (1999). Khon โขน. Bangkok: Et Thi Phi Woen Media. 120 pp. . p. 19. "คําว่า “โขน” กลับมีปรากฏไว้ในหนังสือของชาวต่างประเทศซึ่งกล่าวถึงศิลปะการเล่นของไทยในรัชสมัยสมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช"
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Historical evidence shows that the Thai art of stage plays must have already been highly evolved by the 17th century. In 1687, Louis XIV of France sent a diplomat Simon de la Loubère to record all that he saw in the Siamese Kingdom. In his famous account Du Royaume de Siam, La Loubère carefully observed the classic 17th century theatre of Siam, including an epic battle scene from a Khon performance, and recorded what he saw in great detail:
Of the attire of Siamese Khôn dancers, La Loubère recorded that, "Those that dance in Rabam, and Cone, have gilded paper-bonnets, high and pointed, like the Mandarins caps of ceremony, but which hang down at the sides below their ears, which are adorned with counterfeit stones, and with two pendants of gilded wood."
The origin of Khon is hinted at by the origin of the word "Khon". Its origin is not precisely known, but there are four possibilities. First, "Khon" in Benguela Kalinin appears in the words "kora" or "Khon" which is the name of a musical instrument made of Hindi leather. Its appearance and shape are similar to the drum. It was popular and used for local traditional performances. It was assumed that kora was one of the instruments used in Khon performances. In the Tamil language "Khon" derives from the word "koll" which is close to "goll" or "golumn" in Tamil. These Tamil words relate to dressing or decorating the body from head to toe as in the use of Khon costumes. "Khon" in Iran was derived from the words "zurat khan" which means 'handed-doll' or 'puppet', used in local performances. Its songs were similar to current Khon.[Rajan, S. (2005). South Indian Performance Traditions and Their Influence on Southeast Asia. Chennai: Dravidian Arts Foundation. pp. 112–114.]
Characters
Khon roles are dictated by long-standing tradition. The principal characters are the heroes, the heroines, the ogres, and the monkeys. The monkeys are some of the most important roles in Khon.
[Fine Arts Department of Thailand. (2011). *Khon: Thai Masked Dance Drama*. Bangkok: Ministry of Culture.] The best-known monkey characters in the story is the monkey warrior Hanuman.
Modern Khon contains many elements from the lakhon nai and today, includes female performers playing female characters, formerly performed by men.
Khon language
Khon language is the use of various dance and gesture movements by performers to convey their roles to the audience and to create enjoyment. In general, Khon language resembles everyday language, but it cannot be expressed through vocal tones. Instead, it employs bodily gestures and movements using the torso, hands, arms, legs, feet, shoulders, neck, face, and head to represent meaning. Some gestures in Khon can communicate meaning even more effectively than spoken words. For example, shaking the head is used to signify refusal.
[Department of Cultural Promotion. (n.d.). "The Art of Khon Performance". Ministry of Culture, Thailand. Retrieved July 2025.]
Performances
Khon is based on the tales of the epic
Ramakien (Thai adaptation of Indian Hindu epic
Ramayana),
as
Thai literature and
Thai art draws great inspiration from
and
Hindu mythology. Khon Ramakien originally could be performed by men only.
Women performed only as angels and goddesses. Today women perform as monkeys and demons. In the past, Khon was performed only by the royal family, with the sons of the king performing as monkeys and demons. Thai Khon stresses realistic dance moves, especially the monkey, which focuses on beauty and fine monkey-like dancing postures. Khon training is begun at a very young age, so that the performer can become flexible enough to do back flips, especially by the
Vanara (forest dwellers or monkey) character.
==Gallery==
See also
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Dance in Thailand
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List of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Thailand
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Ramayana, ancient Sanskrit epic
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Ramakien, national epic of Thailand
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Lakhon Khol, Cambodian equivalent
