After another bout with computer problems we're finally back online and ready to blog again. Sorry for the long delay!
In early January of this year Her Royal Highness the Princess Galyani Vadhana died. She was the king's older sister. Since then preparations have been underway for her cremation ceremony, a 6-day event that started this past Friday. Yesterday was the actual cremation day and it was a day-long ceremony, the likes of which we've certainly never seen before! I had been reading about all of the planning and preparation and decided that I'd try to go see at least part of this. So, I left the house at about 4:00 a.m. and went to the Grand Palace area. What I went to watch was the procession that moved her body (in an elaborate golden urn) from the Grand Palace to the cremation site that has been constructed in the nearby "royal field."
After finding a spot on the sidewalk and then sitting and waiting for about five hours along with thousands of other people, the procession finally went by. It was an extremely elaborate and well-orchestrated event. There were various groups of soldiers in their dress uniforms, soldiers dressed in traditional uniforms, and 216 men pulling the Great Funeral Chariot. I also got to see the prime minister, the crown princess, and the crown prince.
There was a huge crowd along the procession route (and another huge crowd waiting along another road to see the king and queen arrive). The atmosphere was a combination of excitement at seeing the pageantry, respect and sadness for the princess who died, and a reverence for seeing the members of the royal family.
The cremation ceremony is spread out over six days - including the actual cremation, the gathering of the remains, the blessing/merit-making for the remains, and then the final "enshrining" of the remains. It's been covered extensively on TV, and the entire country is observing three days of mourning. After I came home, we spent a good part of the day watching it off and on.
Here are some of my pictures. Since I had to remained seated and was several rows behind the barrier, I wasn't able to get very many good pictures - and none that capture the overall size of the procession. It was very impressive. If you want to see better pictures, check out the Bangkok Post's or The Nation's coverage.
This is the Royal Crematorium. It symbolizes Mount Meru, a version of heaven. It was built just for this event at a cost of around $6 million and will only be used once. Afterward it will be dismantled and they'll use the materials to at least symbolically build something else (like a school building or temple).
By the time I found a spot soon after 4:30 there was already a large crowd gathering. That's the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the background.
Here's a small part of the crowd - all dressed in the mourning colors of black and white. It was strange being in such a large crowd where everyone was dressed the same.
Soldiers in their ceremonial dress uniforms.
Men carrying the royal and religious "regalia"
Here is the Grand Funeral Chariot (the one that was pulled by 216 men). You can see in the urn in the top part. Members of the royal family are placed in the urn in a seated position so that their head remains in the highest position.
When the members of the royal family walked by we weren't allowed to take pictures. Everyone had to uncover their heads and wai as a show of respect. As we've mentioned before, the royalty is held in very high esteem here, and that was certainly demonstrated by the excitement and respect of the crowd.
-Tom
