Ayodhya is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 by Somtow Sucharitkul. It premiered on November 16, 2006 at the Thailand Cultural Center in Bangkok, in a production directed by Dutch director Hans Nieuwenhuis and featuring Michael Chance

Michael Chance

Michael Chance CBE is an English countertenor.Chance was born in Penn, Buckinghamshire, into a musical family. After growing up as a chorister he attended Eton College, Berkshire, and later King's College, Cambridge...

 as Ganesha, Nancy Yuen

Nancy Yuen

Nancy Yuen is a Chinese operatic soprano.-Life and career:Nancy Yuen Miu Fun was born in Hong Kong, reportedly in 1967. She is a top graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, and has based her career in the United Kingdom and Singapore. She has made Cio-cio-san her signature role, winning...

 as Sita, Charles Hens as Rama, and John Ames as Ravan. The libretto is a distillation of the entire Ramayana

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

 epic into a single evening.

The opera was composed as a special tribute to the King of Thailand

Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...

as part of the nationwide celebration of the King's Sixtieth Regnal Year. However, the opening was marred by a censorship debate which was widely discussed in the international press.http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1957222,00.html