The (), variously known in several languages as ''makuta'', ''mahkota'', ''magaik'', ''mokot'', ''mongkut'' or ''chada'' (see below), is a type of headdress used as

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

s in the Southeast Asian monarchies of today's

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, and historically in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

(

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, and

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. They are also used in classical court dances in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand; such as ''

khol The ''khol'' is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India for accompaniment with devotional music ('' bhakti''). It is also known as a ''mridanga'' (<

khon 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 variati ...

'', the various forms of '' lakhon'', as well as ''

wayang wong ( ), also known as (), is a type of classical Javanese and Balinese dance theatrical performance with themes taken from episodes of the '' Ramayāna'' or '' Mahabharāta''. Performances are stylised, reflecting Javanese court culture: De ...

'' dance drama. They feature a tall pointed shape, are made of gold or a substitute, and are usually decorated with gemstones. As a symbol of kingship, they are featured in the royal regalia of both Cambodia and Thailand.

Etymology and origins

029 LalitavistaraDeva listening to Dhamma

The crown, in its various forms, originated as headdresses symbolizing the , the matted hair of an ascetic formed into the shape of a crown, often found in the iconography of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

and

Avalokiteśvara In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (meaning "the lord who looks down", International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), also known as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a Bodhisattva#Bhūmis (stages), tenth-level bodhisattva associ ...

. By the turn of the 1st millennia, Hindu-Buddhists of Dharmic civilization emanating from the Indian subcontinent were absorbed and adopted by

Indianized Kingdom Greater India, also known as the Indian cultural sphere, or the Indic world, is an area composed of several countries and regions in South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture, which itself f ...

s in Southeast Asia; from Mekong delta to coastal central Vietnam, from Java to Sumatra and Malay peninsula. Subsequently, the

Sanskritization Sanskritisation (or Sanskritization) is a term in sociology which refers to the process by which castes or tribes placed lower in the caste hierarchy seek upward mobility by emulating the rituals and practices of the dominant castes or upper c ...

took place in Southeast Asia, hand in hand with the adoption of the Hindu-Buddhist concept of kingship. Numbers of Sanskrit terms find their way into local languages in the region. The

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word was faithfully adopted as ''makuta'' within Javanese and

Balinese language Balinese is an Austronesian language spoken on the Indonesian island of Bali, as well as Northern Nusa Penida, Western Lombok, Southern Sumatra, and Sulawesi. Most Balinese speakers also use Indonesian. The 2000 national census recorded 3.3 ...

to describe royal crown, and rendered as Jawi: مهکوتا and ''mahkota'' in Malay and

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

. The Khmer ''mokot'' (), Burmese ''magaik'' () and Thai ''mongkut'' () are derived from the same word too. While the Thai ''chada'' () is derived from Pali/Sanskrit .

Variants

Cambodia

There are many types of ''mokot'' used in Cambodian tradition throughout its history. Most of mokot used for the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

deities and kings who embraced Hinduism represented

Mount Meru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु)—also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritua ...

Prang Prang may refer to: Places * Prang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a town of Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan * Prang Besar, an old name for Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia * Prang Ghar Tehsil or Pran Ghar Subdivision, a subdivis ...

whereas for Buddhists, mokot is taller with single-spire presenting chedi (Buddhist stupa). In

Royal Ballet of Cambodia The Royal Ballet of Cambodia (, ''Robam Preah Reach Troap'', ) is a classical Khmer dance known for its intricate hand movements and elaborate costumes. Historically linked to the Khmer court, it has been performed at various royal ceremonie ...

, the crown worn by a male royal character of the highest rank is called a ''mokot ksat'' and a ''mokot ksatrey'' for female characters.

Indonesia

Indonesia, especially Sumatra, Java, and Bali has adopted the Hindu-Buddhist concept of kingship as early as the 4th century CE. Thus the term ''makuta'' is loaned into

Kawi language Old Javanese or Kawi is an Austronesian language and the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was natively spoken in the central and eastern part of Java Island, what is now Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java Provinces, Ind ...

Old Javanese Old Javanese or Kawi is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language and the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was natively spoken in the central and eastern part of Java Island, what is now Central Java, Special Region o ...

that subsequently become the ancestor of modern Javanese and Balinese languages. In Sumatra, the

Old Malay Malay language, Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian languages, Austronesian language family. Over a period of two Millennium, millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development th ...

term also adopted ''makuta'' and in turn render to ''mahkota'' in modern Malay and Indonesian languages. The typical classical Javanese Hindu-Buddhist ''jatamakuta'' is evident in numbers of statues and bas-reliefs of 9th century candis in Java, such as

Mendut Mendut is a ninth-century Buddhist temple, located in Mendut village, Mungkid sub-district, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. The temple is located about three kilometres east of Borobudur. Mendut, Borobudur, and Pawon, all of which are ...

Borobudur Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur (, ), is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, near the city of Magelang and the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia. Constructed of gray andesite-like stone, the temple consi ...

and

Prambanan Prambanan (, , Javanese script, Hanacaraka: ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ) is a 9th-century Hindu temple, Hindu Candi of Indonesia, temple compound in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, in southern Java, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimurti, Trimūr ...

. The Javanese ''makuta'' model is more faithfully modeled after the classic Indian crown, which consists of ''jamang'' or ''siger'' diadem or tiara worn on the forehead encircling the head, while the hair is arranged in a high bun, decorated with a golden ring securing the hair bun, and several golden ornaments. Mahkota Sultan Kutai 4

The Javanese ''makuta'' crown is now used in traditional ''

Wayang wong ( ), also known as (), is a type of classical Javanese and Balinese dance theatrical performance with themes taken from episodes of the '' Ramayāna'' or '' Mahabharāta''. Performances are stylised, reflecting Javanese court culture: De ...

'' dance-drama performance. Balinese crown was also modeled after the crown of the Javanese style. The ''Makuta Binokasih Sanghyang Pake'' is the golden crown of classic Javanese makuta style, originally the crown of

Sunda Kingdom The Sunda Kingdom ( , ) was a Sundanese people, Sundanese Hindu kingdom located in the western portion of the island of Java from 669 to around 1579, covering the area of present-day Banten, Jakarta, West Java, Lampung, and the western part of ...

and has become the regalia of Sumedang Larang kingdom. The royal crown of

Kutai Kartanegara Sultanate Kutai is a historical region in what is now the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The region shares its name with the Ethnic groups of Indonesia, native ethnic group of the region (known as 'the Kutai people'), wi ...

was designed in the classical Javanese style, which resembles a king's crown in the ''Wayang wong'' (''Wayang orang'') performance in Java.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the ''makuta'' crown is used in traditional ''

Menora Menora may refer to: *Menora (dance), a Siamese folk dance *Menora (planthopper), ''Menora'' (planthopper), a flatid planthopper in family Flatidae *Menora, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth *Kfar HaOranim, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank ...

'' dance-drama, which is performed mainly in the northern states of Malaysia. The main Menora character, also known as the Menora, wore a ''makuta'', a kind of high crown made of soft metal. In Malay, this kind of crown is called ''kecopong'' instead of the usual Malay word for crowns, ''mahkota''. This ''makuta'' has 16 vertically rounded corners, with pom-poms, as well as pointed ears and decorative earrings.

Myanmar

In pre-colonial Burmese kingdoms, the ''magaik'' was one of the five articles of palatial regalia used during coronation ceremonies. The ''magaik'' also crowns prominent images of the Buddha. The ''magaik'' form of the

hti ''Hti'' (, ; ; Shan language, Shan: ), a Burmese language word meaning umbrella, is the name of the finial ornament that tops almost all Burmese pagodas. The chatra umbrella or parasol is an auspicious symbol in Buddhism and Hinduism. As re ...

, an umbrella that crowns Burmese pagodas, has nine tiers. In modern-day Myanmar, the magaik is worn by dancers when performing classical forms of Burmese dance.

Thailand

In Thailand, the headdress is known by two names: ''chada'' and ''mongkut'', and feature a distinctive tall, pointed shape, which was probably acquired from the '' lomphok'', a pointed cloth headdress of Persian origin, during the

Ayutthaya period The Ayutthaya Kingdom or the Empire of Ayutthaya was a Thai people, Thai kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city), Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. Europe ...

. In the Thai classical dance traditions of ''

'' and the various forms of '' lakhon'', the ''chada'' is worn by male characters of royal status, while the ''mongkut'' is worn by females. There are many variants of ''chada'' and ''mongkut'', reflecting the status of the wearer as well as the occasion. As a symbol of divinity, the ''mongkut'' often appears in the iconography of the Buddha and in artistic depictions of ''devata'' (divine beings). As a symbol of kingship, the Great Crown of Victory ( Phra Maha Phichai Mongkut) forms part of the

Regalia of Thailand The coronation of the monarch of Thailand is a ceremony in which they are formally consecrated by anointment and crowning. The ceremony is divided into two main events: the coronation rites and the celebration of the Assumption of the Residenc ...

Other traditions

Similar crowns are occasionally worn in the

Champa Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...

apsara Apsaras (, , Khmer language, Khmer: អប្សរា are a class of celestial beings in Hinduism, Hindu and Culture of Buddhism, Buddhist culture. They were originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, but, later play ...

traditions dance, and are occasionally worn as part of festival garb.

Gallery

File:Makuta Binokasih.jpg, ''Makuta Binokasih Sanghyang Pake'', the crown of

. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Wajang wong voorstelling 'Jaya Semadi en Sri Suwela' in de kraton van de sultan van Jogjakarta TMnr 60002055.jpg, ''

'' Javanese dance drama performer wearing typical Javanese ''makuta'' crown. File:Voralaksanavadi.jpg, Princess Voralaksanavadi wearing a ''chada'' as a child. File:The Great Crown of Victory of the Royal Yacht Mahachakri (II).jpg, Replica of the

Great Crown of Victory The Great Crown of Victory (; ) is one of the regalia of Thailand. Made of gold and enamelled in red and green during the reign of King Rama I in 1782, the Crown (headgear), crown is 66 centimeters (26 inches) high and weighs 7.3 kg (16 poun ...

, Thailand.

References

{{Headgear Crowns (headgear) Cambodian clothing Burmese headgear Malay clothing Thai headgear