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The coronation of the present king
took place on 5 May 1950 and His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the
Great is the ninth King of the Chakri Dynasty. On 5 May of every year,
all his subjects rejoice in demonstrating once more their affection and
loyalty to him by organising a celebration on his coronation day.
Prior
to the reign of King Rama IV (King Mongkut), there was no coronation
ceremony in Thailand, there was only a private ceremony held by high
ranking officials to celebrate their Royal Regalia and positions in the
6th lunar month. A coronation, however, took place for the first time
when King Rama IV was crowned on 15 May 1851. The king thought that the
coronation was an auspicious occasion and above all, several countries
which have a king or Queen as the head of state regard this day as an
important occasion to organise a ceremony in honour of their monarch.
Thus , King Rama IV issued a proclamation to organise a ceremony on the
coronation day. However, the king thought that it would be difficult to
explain the meaning of the coronation day to his subjects in detail, he
thus allowed people to call this day as a "ceremony to commemorate the
Royal Regalia", but was Quite similar to that of a coronation. On that
day (the 13th of the full moon in the 6th lunar month).Buddhist monks
were invited to perform a blessing ceremony and on the following day
monks were invited to have meal at the Dusit Maha Prasart Throne Hall
in the Grand Palace.
During the reign of the
present king, the ceremonies are performed for three days. The first
day falls on 3 May in which the following ceremony will be performed;
the king performs a merit-making ceremony at the Audience Hall of
Amarindra in dedication to the deceased kings while Buddhist monks
chant, give a sermon and perform a requiem (a ceremony to meditate and
take memorial robe) on the royal ashes of the deceased king. On 4 May,
the Coronation Ceremonies beginwith a proclamation of the Coronation
Day read by the Chief of Brahmin priests followed by an evening
chanting performed by Buddhist monks. Finally 5 May is the actual date
of the ceremony in which food is to be offered to monks and followed by
a celebration of the Royal Regalia. At noon the Army and the Navy, each
fires a 21-gun salute in honour of the king. On this day, His Majesty
the King also presents the royal decorations to the people who have
made a valuable contribution to the country.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 August 2007 )
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