#Thailand - Royal Cremation to feature gun-carriage procession for first time in 67 years.

THE GRAND procession for the Royal Cremation of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej will comprise six separate processions of Royal chariots and palaquins.

It will be the first time in 67 years that the public will witness the meticulous tradition of the third procession of the Royal Gun carriage, or Rajarot Puen Yai. 

The Rajarot Puen Yai is used in the royal cremation of a king or a high-ranking member of the Royal Family who held a military position. It has been used during ceremonies to carry the Royal Urn on three counter-clockwise rounds of the Royal Crematorium.

The use of this chariot was introduced in the reign of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), to replace the traditional use of Phra Yannamas Sam Lam Khan (a palanquin with three poles). In response to the wishes of King Vajiravudh, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) ordered the use of the Rajarot Puen Yai to carry the Royal Urn for King Vajiravudh around the Royal Crematorium.

Rajarot Puen Yai was used for the last time in the Royal Cremation of King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) in 1950. 

The Royal Gun carriage, comprising two carts known as a limber and a caisson, represents that His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was the supreme commander of the country’s armed forces.

The front cart has been newly built, but the back cart is a restoration of the “Mountain 51” gun carriage with the registered number 21863 and the substitution carriage number 21866.

 The Royal Thai Army Ordnance Department in Nakhon Ratchasima undertook the restoration.

The new Royal Gun carriage has been fitted with a third wheel to enhance its strength and ability to balance.

 Decorations in traditional style have been designed by Fine Art Department artist Chanayotin Aupaluck. He says the design derives from original drawings made by Prince Narisara Nuwattiwong for the Rajarot Puen Yai Rang Kwean used in the funeral of King Rama VI.

The motifs have been hand-carved in teak.

“The traditional motifs include the lotus, used to decorate the base, and singha for each post of the base, which will hold the royal urn. Other krajang motifs are used for the wheels and along the carriage,” Chanayotin says.

“The metal construction of the chariot is coloured in dark army green and the carved wood is in an elegant golden shade.” 

The Royal Gun carriage weighs more than 1,000 kilograms, is 1.85 metres high and seven metres long. It will take about 40 men to pull it. 

Source - TheNation

#Thailand - 7.5m people pay respects to late King

People from all walks of life and from all over the country have visited Bangkok to pay their respects before the Royal Urn of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej inside the Grand Palace’s Dusit Maha Prasart Throne Hall.

The Bureau of Royal Household reported on Friday that 7,544,644 people had paid their respects before the Royal Urn in the past 219 days. During the same period, the public also donated more than Bt592 million towards merit-making for the late King.

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Source - TheNation

 

Thailand - 3 million funeral wood flowers for King’s cremation

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Three million funeral wood flowers will be given to public mourners before the late HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s royal cremation, according to Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang.

The artificial flowers will be made into 36 patterns – such as roses, orchids, water lilies, cape jasmines, daffodils, zinnias and champaks – from focal natural materials like dried banana leaves and trunks and dried water hyacinths, Aswin said on Monday.

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They will be made and provided at 101 booths across Bangkok.

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Flower makers will include people from BMA schools, vocational schools and companies. 

Their models will also be given to those wishing to craft the flowers themselves.

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According to Thai tradition, wood flowers are placed in front of a deceased person’s coffin or urn as a last tribute before cremation.

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The BMA’s Social Development Department is receiving raw material donations for the flower-making process.

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Source - TheNation

Bangkok - Changes to Sanam Luang mourners area

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Some adjustments will be implemented from April 1 for people arriving at Sanam Luang to pay their respects before the royal urn of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej inside the Grand Palace’s Dusit Maha Prasart Throne Hall in Bangkok.

Following a meeting of the Peace and Order Maintaining Command on Friday, Deputy First Army Region commander Maj-General Pongsawat Pannachit said the adjustment was needed because Sanam Luang would be prepared as the ceremonial ground for the upcoming Royal Ploughing Ceremony.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Department of Public Work is currently preparing the southern area of Sanam Luang to support mourners, with an administrative tent and medical team set up there.

From April 1, officials and volunteers will provide snacks to visitors each morning, Pongsawat said.

Later each day, people can receive food from charity tents at two areas near the Mother Earth Squeezing Her Hair Statue and the old Government Lottery Office. 

Those visiting the "Yen Sira Phro Phra Boriban" exhibition building at Sanam Luang will have a tent especially for them at the area opposite the Appeals Court.

A shuttle bus service from the Grand Palace's Thevapirom Gate to the exhibition building will be available.

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony will be held in May on the Phuetcha Mongkhon holiday to mark the traditional beginning of the rice-growing season.

The ceremony, rooted in Brahman belief, will involve two sacred oxen ploughing a furrow in the ceremonial ground while rice seeds are sown. 

After the ploughing, the oxen will be offered food such as rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice whisky.

There will be a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful based on what the oxen eat.