I wonder if you remember that last year, the coronation ceremony of the new Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn was held in the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. The ceremony that
spent 1 billion baht (approximately 200 million) lasted for 3 days (May 4-6, 2019). Naturally, there are many things to watch. The "coronation ceremony" of
is still a bit strange to us. If you missed it last year, don't worry, please follow Sister Xiqi to see it thoroughly today.
▲ Thai King Maha wore a 7.3KG victory crown. In the coronation ceremony of
, besides King Maha of Thailand, where is your focus? Is it the beautiful queen Sutida? Is it the pure gold crown weighing about 7.3KG? Or is it a gold-plated sedan chair that requires 16 people to lift?
▲Thai King Maha parades the streets in a gold-plated sedan that requires 16 people to lift.
If you only pay attention to these, then obviously you need to read this article. The most interesting thing in the traditional Thai coronation ceremony is the "initiation ceremony"!
What is "initiation (coronation ceremony)"?
Although we are accustomed to translating it into "coronation ceremony", this word is actually composed of three Sanskrit words: Parama raja abhisheka.
live translation:
Parama: the most noble,
raja,: king,
abhisheka: empowerment. Connecting
, roughly means: the empowerment of the king of .
Nani? Why is this so?
"Because Thailand believes in Brahmanism."
▲The King Maha of Thailand entered the palace.
▲ Without exception, the successive kings of Thailand have received holy water initiation.
Under this cultural background, only the king who has received the "Holy Water Empowerment" of can have the full legality of .
Seeing this, there may be some friends who want to ask: Sister Xi Qi, since you said that empowerment is the essence, why did King Thai wear the crown again?
▲ Thai King Maha wears a crown made of pure gold.
is a good question.
Although in Brahman culture, “the empowerment of the king” does not require wearing a crown, , but Thailand has been influenced by Europe in modern times. Under the influence of imperceptibly, the Thais added the western “put on the crown” action in the ceremony of “the empowerment of the king” .
(If there is no "putting on the crown" action, I am afraid that Westerners will look confused, so it is also to take care of them.)
▲ One of the five spirits of Thailand's auspicious white elephant, crawling on his knees to celebrate the crowning of the King of Thailand.
After getting to know the background, please review it with sister Xiqi.
The most important "initiation" ceremony in the coronation ceremony.
Before starting the empowerment, the staff will prepare the "holy water" for the empowerment. Where does
holy water come from?
▲The former King Bhumibol Adulyadej also received holy water initiation.
In fact, there are two types of holy water used in the coronation ceremony:
The first type is called " initiation holy water " , which must be taken from the "Five Holy Rivers" and "Four Holy Pools" in Thailand. The prepared "initiation holy water" will be poured onto the king's head during the ceremony. The second type of
is called " Bafang Holy Water " , which is taken from 5 major rivers in Thailand and 107 water intake points in each province.
How is the "initiation of holy water" ceremony performed? After
is ready, on the first day of the ceremony (on the morning of May 4), King Mahawa Chilalongkorn will go to the Grand Palace in Bangkok to receive the most important initiation ceremony.
▲ Early that morning, King Maha of Thailand set out to receive the initiation ceremony at the Imperial Palace.
Looking at the picture above, King Maha set out wearing loose white clothes, but he was not going to take a bath.
This loose white dress is called "Holy Clothes", he wearsSaint clothing is going to sit in the pavilion in the courtyard of the Imperial Palace. Make the final preparations for the empowerment ceremony.
▲The Thai monk gave holy water initiation to the new Thai king Mahawaji Lalongkorn.
Once everything is ready, the ceremony will begin. Thai King Maha, dressed in a white holy garment, sat in a pavilion set up in the courtyard of the Imperial Palace.
Put your hands together, close your eyes and meditate.
▲The Thai monk gave holy water initiation to the new Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
In the photo stands behind the Thai king is a respected old man, he was the then "monk king" in Thailand.
The monk picked up the holy water and poured it on the Thai king Maha.
▲Two Thai kings received holy water initiation ceremony. After the back of
is over, change to the front. Is this scene vaguely similar? From the comparison of the photos above, we can see that King Bhumibol had received the same holy water initiation in 1946.
In addition, there is a switch in the pavilion. When it is turned on, the holy water will flow down, and the King of Thailand will receive more holy water.
▲The king of Thailand received holy water initiation.
So far, the entire empowerment ceremony has been halfway through. After completing the “initiation of holy water” ceremony, the “eight directions holy water” ceremony will be carried out.
How is the "Eight Directions of Holy Water" ceremony performed?
After the "Initiation of Holy Water" ceremony, the King of Thailand returned to the Guangnan Hall from the "Emperor Residence Hall" and sat on the "Octagonal Utan Bowl (Fig) Throne" and received the "Eight Directions of Holy Water" initiation.
▲The King Maha of Thailand sits on the "octagonal bowl (fig) throne" and receives the initiation of "Holy Water from All Directions".
Looking at the picture above, the "octagonal bowl (fig) throne" in the middle, and the bottles and jars placed on the surrounding white shelves are the "Holy water from all directions" taken from 107 rivers in Thailand.
▲The minister offered holy water from all directions to King Bhumibol. The difference between
and the "Holy Water initiation" ceremony is that in addition to religious people, many ministers will be present to observe the ceremony.
If the "initiation of holy water" ceremony represents "the king is blessed by heaven ", then the "eight directions holy water" ceremony represents "the king is supported by the people ".
You can definitely feel the subtleties of this. In short, the King of Thailand is the chosen son of heaven and is popular among the people.
▲The king of Thailand canonized the queen. After the
empowerment ceremony, the most important part of the coronation ceremony has passed. But then there will be ceremonies such as enshrining holy objects, canonizing the queen, and going out of the palace to worship Buddha.
▲The coronation ceremony of King Maha of Thailand was completed.
Sister Xiqi here especially wants to mention that, do you think the king of Thailand’s throne is not high (pictured above)? It's actually very high, you need to climb a ladder to get to the throne.
▲The coronation ceremony of King Maha of Thailand was completed.
Look at the picture above, you can click to open it to see the larger picture, it will be clearer, the king of Thailand has to climb at least 5 high steps to reach the throne.
▲The white elephant, one of the five spirits of auspicious Thailand, prostrates to celebrate the coronation of the King of Thailand.
After a three-day ceremony, Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn has officially become the new king, and since then he has started his life as a winner.
What do you think of the King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand?
welcome to leave a message to sister Xiqi and express your thoughts.
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