Thailand bids farewell to Princess Bejaratana
Thailand said goodbye to Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda, who died in July last year, the only child of King Vajiravudh, Rama VI, and Queen Savang Vadhana, and niece of the current king.
This was done with great ceremony, with three processions, a public and private cremation and cultural activities throughout the night.
The cremation
The day started at 7 AM at the Dusit Maha Throne Hall. There the urn was loaded onto a palanquin (palanquin) and taken to Wat Pho. The urn was then moved to a chariot, which was pulled by 216 men in an hour and a half procession to Sanam Luang. Again the urn was placed on the palaquin and three times every other phra meru (royal pyre) borne. Each turn measured 260 meters.
The ceremonial cremation took place at 16.30 pm under the watchful eye of the royal couple and family, followed by the official cremation at 22 pm. At that cremation, the urn is replaced by a sandalwood urn, which is set on fire by the king.
Subsequently, various cultural activities take place at night on three stages in accordance with traditions dating back to the Ayutthaya era.
On Tuesday, the princess's ashes will be transferred to the Grand Palace for an honoring ceremony, and from there to the Royal Mausoleum on Thursday.
Lots of preparations
The Fine Arts Department and Religious Affairs Department spent eight months preparing for the cremation. The cost was 218,1 million baht.
The crematorium built specifically for the cremation was designed by national artist Avudh Ngernchooklin, former Director General of the Fine Arts Department. It is based on Princess Galyani Vadhana's crematorium but it has a slightly different roof and is slightly smaller.
Princess Bejratana spent most of her childhood and early years in England, after the absolute monarchy ended in 1932 and her uncle, King Prajadhipok, abdicated. In 1959 she returned to Thailand and was otherwise mainly involved in charity work.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post (This article is based on the program that was still in progress when published on thailandblog. As far as I know, the princess's body was transported standing in the urn.)
As expats or just people who have a good heart for Thailand, we can
their culture naturally questions the enormous costs of saying goodbye to the Princess. After seeing it on television, I was silent for a moment. Here stands a people
who are proud of their history and their homeland.
There are many moments in my life when I am not proud of my homeland.
J. Jordan.
I have also regularly watched the spectacle in recent days, but it amazed me more and more. What I saw was the ruling class, the power, performing a symbolism that is nowhere to be seen in the world. Of course, all those ceremonial acts have a meaning, based on Buddhism. Yet.
I talked about it with my friend's daughter. She recently graduated from a local university. She had heard something about the deceased princess, but it was a far from my bed show. This also receives little attention in her student environment. They do have other things on their minds. Of the ten thousand graduates, few have a job and the rest are looking. The problem is that what they think about this theme, they don't dare to say. When Thaksin returns soon, the same song will start all over again. Red- against yellowshirts, although the latter faction is quite weakened. How many victims? Talk about homeland pride. Always get something out of it.
Also here near Ban Namphon, Nong Wah Sao (Udon Thani), I saw all kinds of men and women (me from the local government) going to the temple.
They were all dressed in white uniform with a black band on their arm…
I think this ceremony took place all over Thailand….
Something is not clear to me here. What was in that urn that was set on fire. The princess's ashes? Burning ashes seems like a bit of double cremation to me.
Dear Hans,
In that 'urn' (the term is used because of its shape) was the body of the princess. The urn with the ashes of the princess is of course much smaller. On the website of Bangkok Post there are some pictures that make things clear.