In the long history of the Thai nation state, since the Sukhothai period, the king is not only the leader in the establishment of the kingdom, but also in the nurturing and the perpetuating of art, culture, traditions, and customs, which are the threads that bind the life of the nation and form the national heritage. According to historical records, the oldest royal cremation ceremony in the Thai kingdom was mentioned in Traiphummikatha, or the “Story of Three Planes of Existence,” composed by King Thammaracha I, or King Lithai of the Sukhothai period, around 1345, with a description of a royal cremation for a deceased king.
No records from the early Ayutthaya period have been found concerning a royal cremation ceremony. Chronicles of the middle Ayutthaya period, meanwhile, mentioned only the crematorium for a royal cremation ceremony, without describing the rites and rituals involved. In the late Ayutthaya period, an account of the royal cremation ceremony for King Thai Sa described only the cremation and the procession for the royal relics and ashes, and the royal cremation ceremony for Princess Sudawadi Krom Luang Yothathep, the daughter of King Narai the Great.
In ancient Thai tradition, the monarch is highly revered as a divine king, a tradition influenced by Hinduism. The king is believed to be the reincarnation of a god. When he departs, concluding his mission on earth, he returns to his heavenly dwelling on Mount Meru, where all gods and goddesses live their eternal lives, as stated in the Traiphummikatha. Rites and rituals for the royal remains are held in accordance with age-old traditions, meant to accord honor in the same manner as when the royals lived, with the royal merit-making ceremony in accordance with Buddhist beliefs. The royal remains are moved to be cremated in the crematorium built in the heart of the city. The royal tradition has been upheld by the Thai people through the ages, with modifications to the royal ceremony and the construction of the crematorium in accordance with the changing conditions.
In the Rattanakosin period, the royal cremation ceremony has been largely scaled down, although traditional practices are retained. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) commanded that the rites for his royal cremation be cut back and the crematorium scaled down, sufficient for people to take part in the cremation, not to be as high as in the past. His successor, King Vajiravudh, commanded further scaling down of the crematorium and the merit-making ceremony.
According to ancient court traditions, when a king, a queen, or a high-ranking royal who contributed significantly to the nation passes away, the reigning monarch would arrange for merit-making and cremation ceremonies befitting the deceased’s honor and royal precedence.
The royal remains are placed in a golden urn, set on a golden base put up prominently in a throne hall in the Grand Palace. The base is elaborately decorated, and a multi-tiered white umbrella of state is placed over the urn in accordance with the royal precedence. A Buddhist rite is held daily and every 7, 15, 50, and 100 days.
Moreover, the sounding of the hours is regularly made as the signal to alert court officials on duty. The sounding, with oboe, conch shells, and drums, takes place at 06.00, 12.00, 18.00, 21.00, and 24.00 hr, every day through the mourning period, which may last 100 days, 2 months, 1 month, 15 days, or 7 days, according to the deceased’s honor.
In the religious rites for the remains of Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother in 1995, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn made known her wish to bring in the Fine Arts Department’s classical music ensemble, known as the Pi Phat Nang Hong ensemble, with a particular melancholic tone, to perform at intervals after the sounding of the hours. The ensemble comprises a Javanese oboe, high-pitch xylophone, low-pitch xylophone, large and small serial gongs, drum, and cymbal.
When the crematorium at Sanam Luang ceremonial ground is completed, ready for the cremation, the royal remains are transferred from the Grand Palace in a rite known as “Ok Phra Men.”
All steps involved in the royal cremation ceremony are defined in the ancient court tradition strictly observed through time.
The royal cremation ceremony involves many steps of elaborate preparations that take months, from the construction of the crematorium to the maintenance and decorating of the royal carriages and palanquins used in the procession to transport the royal urn and paraphernalia, not to mention fresh decorations made for the crematorium, and the banana stalk carvings which must be finished only a few hours before the cremation takes place. Also, rehearsals for the processions are needed for each location and rite.
Thai people in former days held to the three planes of existence in the Buddhist cosmology, with Mount Meru as the center of the universe, surrounded by heavenly abodes and the habitats of humans and animals. The royal crematorium has been modeled as Mount Meru since the Ayutthaya period, surrounded by mythological animal figures, with the processions bringing the royal remains to the crematorium, called Phra Merumas, the Golden Mount Meru, hence the term “Ok Phra Men.”
The royal crematorium has been constructed in different shapes and forms, dictated by age-old traditions and philosophy governing the crematorium for the remains of a king, a warrior, or a royal lady. His Royal Highness Prince Naris, a Great Artist of Siam, assumed that the construction of the crematorium was based on the concept of a huge castle, with supplementary structures in the corners, linked by corridors in layers, resembling Mount Meru surrounded by seven mountain ranges. Even when it was scaled down, the name Meru was retained.
The royal crematorium is on a square base, surrounded by supplementary structures, in the form of a temple hall with corridors, called Thap Kaset, and Sang or Samsang, the four corner pavilions for monks reciting prayers. Opposite the royal crematorium is the royal pavilion for His Majesty the King. The royal crematorium is fully decorated to resemble Mount Meru as it is described in the Traiphummikatha.
The royal cremation, or “Ok Phra Men,” in ancient times was a major national event lasting 3, 5, 7, 9, or 15 days, to suit the circumstances. At present, the ceremony is confined to a set period:
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