A KING GREMATES HIS MOTHER

Hokitika Guardian, 7 August 1920, Page 4

A KING GREMATES HIS MOTHER

SIAM CEREMONY. BANGKOK, June 3. 'lnc remains oi riia yueen-motlier ol imam, Sowayi i'ongai, wiio died last October, were cremated to-day, the pyre being lit by her son, the King. rung .Uaha Vajiravudh of Siam also put the torch to liio pyre at tut* cremation oi his father, King Chulaiongkom, in 1911.

The ceremony connected with the cremation of a royal personage in Siam is slrmige and impressive. in the middle oi a great open space py re of chosen, scouted w00.;.-,, guarded by soldiers] 611 the pyre rests ;i mngniliceut casket almost covered with gold, in which are the ueau personage’s remains. Around Lite pyre a great crowd waits, quietly, thoughtfully, as is always Uie way on such a solemn occasion. SFEGTATOILS ALL IN WHITE. Everybody in Bangkok is there. Everybody is dressed in white, for the time of mourning, is over. The people wear black for the dead until the day of cremation. The King drives up escorted by his guards, and followed by all the members of the Royal Family. His Majesty alights and the ceremony begins. Still the Buddhist priests pray on in words that most of the people do not understand. The casket, which has been lifted on .a the pyre by a crane, remains there guarded until the King’s arrival. His coming is the signal for all the people to stand up. When the King sits down they follow his example—like so many automata. At last he rises by himself. An officer hands him a lighted torch. This he applies to the loot of the pyre, and the actual cremation is begun. Next morning the King and the Boyal Family go hack to find the charred pvre still surrounded by the guards. GOLDEN URN.

It is the King’s duty and privilege to search for the first material part of the departed royalty. His family help him to collect others until all the ashes in the casket are gathered together. They are then put in a golden are conveyed to their last resting place in the tipper storey of the middle turret of the palace in Bangkok’. Such lias been the custom since the days of the ing who built the present Royal. Palace about 150 years ago. At one time it was a custom of the priests to lie a string round the coffin while they prayed before the pyre was lighted.