With solemn faces and outright tears, black-clad Thais said farewell to their king on Bangkok’s streets and at viewing areas around the nation, capping a year of mourning with funeral ceremonies steeped in centuries of tradition.
Three processions involving the royal family, thousands of troops, a golden palanquin, a chariot and a royal gun carriage carried a ceremonial urn representing King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s remains from the Dusit Maha Prasad Throne Hall to the newly built crematorium.
The ceremony was watched in person by tens of thousands of mourners dressed all in black and millions more around the kingdom in broadcasts aired live on most Thai TV stations and shown at designated viewing areas across the country.
King Bhumibol’s death at age 88 on October 13, 2016, after a reign of seven decades sparked a national outpouring of grief. Millions of Thais visited the throne hall at Bangkok’s Grand Palace to pay respects.
The funeral is by design an intensely somber event, but also rich in history and cultural and spiritual tradition.
Thais have braved tropical heat and torrential monsoon rains to secure street-side vantage points to witness the funeral. Thousands of police and volunteers are on hand to ensure order and entry into the royal quarter, which has been tightly controlled to eliminate the faint possibility of protest against the monarchy or military government.
In picture, the chariot which will transport the royal urn is in position at the start of the funeral procession in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
Deceased Thai royals have traditionally been kept upright in urns during official mourning. But King Bhumibol, who spent much of his early life in the West, opted to be put in a coffin, with the royal urn placed next to it for devotional purposes.
The urn, placed under a nine-tiered white umbrella and accompanied by a palace official, was hoisted into the main chamber of the golden-spired crematorium as monks chanted, traditional instruments wailed and artillery fired in the distance.
The funeral for Bhumibol will take place over five days and began Wednesday with his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, performing Buddhist merit-making rites before chanting monks and officials in immaculate white uniforms.
As the chariot, pulled by hundreds of men in traditional red uniforms, passed the mourners lining the parade route, they prostrated themselves, pressing their folded hands and head on the ground in a show of reverence for the late monarch. Mourners are not permitted to shout out “Long Live the King” or hold up cellphones to take photos or selfies when the royal processions pass.
Soldiers pay their respects at the funeral procession and royal cremation ceremony.
King Bhumibol’s son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, will perform merit-making rites at the throne hall watched by other members of the royal family.
A Thai nurse watches images of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej near the site of the Royal Cremation ceremony.