Most Thais witness coronation for the first time

BANGKOK: Most Thais have never witnessed a coronation – it has been almost 70 years since the last one, when the young Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned in 1950.

Bangkok has transformed from a slow-moving capital to a crowded modern city, but the spectacular three-day coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn will follow intricate centuries-old traditions.

From sacred water purification and a diamond-encrusted crown to a grand procession, here are five key rituals from Vajiralongkorn’s coronation:

Royal purification

The first day’s rituals, considered the most important, represent a symbolic transformation from the human to the divine for the monarch.

The king entered a pavilion and first anointed himself with sacred water drawn from across Thailand.

Then, a line of Hindu Brahmin priests passed him more sacred water held in royal items built during the reigns of previous kings.

Not long after royal purification rites, the king will proceed to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he will receive sacred water from eight directions.

Symbolically that “means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom”, Komkrit said.

He will ascend the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State.

Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak’s hair.

The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Vajiralongkorn will place the crown on his own head. He will then issue his first royal command, which will be similar in meaning if not in wording to previous members of the Chakri dynasty, founded in 1782.

The newly-crowned king is set to grant a “grand audience” to members of the royal family, the privy council, the Cabinet and senior officials.

Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand.

He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence. The main element of today’s ceremonies, streets across Bangkok’s historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment.

At 4.30pm, Vajiralongkorn will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb.

A 21-gun salute will kick off the procession.

On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4.30pm “to receive the good wishes of the people”.

An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. — AFP