Death and Funeral
Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother was popular among the people of Thailand, not only for the royal position, but most of all for her dedication and numerous achievements initiated for the benefit of the people.
Princess Mother lived officially in Srapathum Palace, with her daughter, Princess Galyani Vadhana. In the middle of 1991, she apparently fell in her bedroom. She never entirely recovered from that accident. In November 1993, December 1994 and again in June 1995 she was admitted to the Siriraj Hospital for treatment. And in the end, Princess Srinagarindra died on 18 July 1995 at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, at the age of 94. She was one of the longest-living members of Thai royalty.
As her body lay in state within the ancient and cavernous hall of Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall, in the compound of the Grand Palace, mourners thronged to pay their final respects. These included not only members of the Royal Family, diplomats, government officials, and those living within the confines of the capital city, but also hilltribe villagers from the far corners of the kingdom. They filed into Bangkok by car, by bus, by train, their black-clad figures covering the vast grounds of Sanam Luang.
The Royal Cremation took place on 10 March 1996, for which an elaborately carved Royal Crematorium, or Phra Merumas, was built in the centre of Sanam Luang, symbolizing the mythical mountain abode of the Hindu gods. Crowds lined the street as the golden urn of rank was transported on the Royal Great Victory Carriage, or Phra Maha Pichai Ratcharot, in a solemn procession from the Grand Palace to the Royal Crematorium. This Royal Cremation Ceremony was one of the biggest events Thailand has witnessed in modern times, attended by thousands of people and watched on television nationwide.
The funeral pyre was lit by her son, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. After the cremation, the king collected his mother’s ashes to be afterwards enshrined near her husband Prince Mahidol Adulyadej in the Rangsi Vadhana Memorial, Royal Cemetery, Wat Ratchabophit temple in Bangkok.
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Famous quotes containing the words death and/or funeral:
“Since the death instinct exists in the heart of everything that lives, since we suffer from trying to repress it, since everything that lives longs for rest, let us unfasten the ties that bind us to life, let us cultivate our death wish, let us develop it, water it like a plant, let it grow unhindered. Suffering and fear are born from the repression of the death wish.”
—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)
“Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;”
—Charles Wolfe (1791–1823)