Royal relics and ashes of the late King Bhumibol enshrined

Royal relics and ashes of the late King Bhumibol enshrined

The royal urn holding King Bhumibol's relics is moved to the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall from the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall on Sunday. (TV Pool photo)
The royal urn holding King Bhumibol's relics is moved to the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall from the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall on Sunday. (TV Pool photo)

The relics and cremated remains of the late King Bhumibol have been enshrined to complete the royal cremation ceremony of the revered monarch.

The completion of the ceremonies on Sunday will bring the mourning period to an end at midnight.

His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun presided over Sunday's religious rites at Wat Rajabophit and Wat Bowonniwes Vihara after the royal ashes were moved there from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Wat Rajabophit is the place where the relics of the Mahidol royal family are kept. Wat Bowonniwes is the temple where the late King entered monkhood in 1956. The late King had paid official and private visits to Wat Bowonniwes before and after the monkhood to have conversations with the teacher who would later become the revered supreme patriarch.

Mourners throng an area outside the Grand Palace on Sunday for the final procession of the royal cremation ceremony for the late King Bhumibol. (Video by Om Jotikasthira)


Earlier on Sunday, the King chaired a merit-making ceremony to transfer the royal urn holding King Bhumibol's relics from the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall to its permanent home in the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall, also in the Grand Palace.

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and other royal family members attended all ceremonies on Sunday.

Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana took part in the final procession of the royal cremation ceremony. The Princess joined the 29th Cavalry Battalion, King's Guard, on her horse W-Calata, leading the caskets holding the royal ashes of the late King from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to Wat Rajbophit and Wat Bowonniwes.

Mourners thronged the area around the Grand Palace and the roads where the final procession passed on Sunday to bid farewell to the late King for the last time.

The committee organising the ceremonies advised people to drop black and white cloth, together with messages of remembrance, as soon as the clock ticks past midnight on Sunday night.

People are asked to wear suitably-coloured attire, it said, with entertainment activities appropriate to the occasion. The flying of flags at half-staff to mourn the late King will end on Monday, it added.

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