- The Kinnaree
Thailand has many mythical birds/creatures, the Kinnaree(Kinnari) is one of them and consists of a beautiful half woman/half bird creature, where the upper body is in human form and the bottom part is similar in style to the Hong. Some say that the Kinnaree depicts a swan because of the birds natural grace.
In Thailand the Kinnaree is renown not only for her grace, but also for her beauty, song and poetry. As with many other mythical creatures, the Kinnaree in Thailand has been adopted from Hinduism.
She also has a male counterpart called the Kinnara although this figure is much less favoured by Thai artists, there is also a classical Thai dance associated with the Kinnaree.
I photographed this example of the Kinnaree at Siam Niramit, a cultural “village” located in Bangkok.
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