PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN - A Brahmin ceremony was held on Monday for the cutting of 12 sandalwood trees to be used to build the royal coffin for King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Video by Pattanapong Hirunard
The event, led by the Royal Household Bureau, took place in the Kui Buri National Park in Kui Buri district. It was intended to seek permission from the God and the Goddess who are believed to be guarding the trees to cut some of them and move them out of the forest.
Vuth Sumitra, deputy secretary-general of the bureau who chaired the ceremony, started the ritual at 2.09pm by anointing one of the 12 trees with holy white powder and pouring holy water on it.
He then went to the ceremony stage to light candles and joss sticks on a table full of fruits, boiled ducks, shrimps and pig heads. He walked around the table to put down the joss sticks on the prepared fruits and food.
A Brahmin read the message to the holy God and Goddess. telling them that Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn needed to get the trees from their place for the royal coffin for the late King.
After finishing reading, Mr Vuth went to a sandalwood tree with a golden axe, gently cutting it three times and throwing flowers around it.
He did the same with the other 11 sandalwood trees located nearby.
National park chief Kanchanaphan Khamheang said that he would coordinate with the Department of Fine Arts for an appropriate time to move the wood out of the park.
Around 500 local people joined the ceremony as they wanted to be part of the memorial event of their beloved King.
Wipa Wongsnit, 33, a villager from neighbouring Yan Sue district, said that she was very proud that her hometown was the great place for the holy wood preserved only for royal ceremonies.
The Kui Buri National Park is a famous home for the trees.
This was the fourth time in living memory that the trees were selected from the park to be part of royal ceremonies. The first took place after the passing of King Bhumibol’s mother in 1995, followed by that of his sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, in 2007 and that of the Supreme Patriarch last year.
Vuth Sumitra, deputy secretary-general of the Royal Household Bureau, uses a golden axe to gently cut a sandalwood tree at the Kui Buri National Park on Monday. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)