Paper short abstract:

Certain traditions, originally from South Asia, survived in Southeast Asia. The representation of a chariot is one of them

Paper long abstract:

The Vessantara Jataka, the most elaborate of all the stories of the previous births of the Buddha, contains a lengthy description of an elephant, of the elephant. A certain passage in that description compares the tusks of the stately animal with the drawbar of a carriage. This passage is translated variably in different languages. With the help of Burmese (Myanmari) and Siamese (Thai, Cambodian, Laotian) works of art and early photographs, this paper attempts to explain the true sense of that passage.