A Royal Coronation – I

A Royal Coronation – II

 

Where Kings Rule

 

I have been in Bangkok for two days now.

After catching up on and adjusting from jet lag I finally went out last night to walk around. I wanted to see if there was anything happening before the Coronation rituals begin over the weekend.

 

 

From my night near the airport I moved into the the Villa Guesthouse near the river Chao Phraya. I stayed here a few years ago. I was enchanted by it. After a nap in the humid afternoon heat, I decided to take my third shower of the day. Then I headed out for the evening to see what I could find.

I expected a few things – though nothing like what I saw. Nothing like what I found out.

First I walked over to to Phra Sumen Road, which is just two blocks over. You cross a canal on an old, long arched bridge to get to it. Two blocks down on Phra Sumen is a beautiful temple. I had been to this temple before and had since learned that it is a Royal Temple. As I walked I noticed there were police standing along the road. They were all at attention, legs apart, hands clasped to the lower back, eyes straight out. They stood about 50 yards apart and faced each other on both sides of the road. At eight o’clock at night there were few people on the street but, as usual, the traffic clipped by.

When I approached the entrance it had been cut off with a stage about ten feet high. The stage protruded a ways into the edge of the road. A metal fence was built around it. You had to risk life and limb going around the fence and into the road, but it felt like there were important matters at hand. Along with the walking danger you could hear Pali chants happening within the temple compound. I walked a bit further and noticed a smaller opened doorway through the wall.

There was a policeman standing there – with a foreigner approaching him! Me. His eyes nervously glanced at mine. Instead of pretending like he wasn’t there, I asked him how his night was going – in Thai. There was an immediate smile and he shyly said Very Well. I stepped closer and asked if it was okay to go into the temple. With typical Thai nonchalance he said,

‘Well, of course you can! It belongs to the people.’

Having briefly averted his dutiful eyes, he snapped his back straight up, his eyes back to the man across the street. Guarding beauty.

I walked through the door.

วั ด บ ว ร นิ เ ว ศ วิ ห า ร ร า ช ว ร วิ ห า ร

Or in English, the temple is known as

Wat Bowonniwet Wihan Ratchaworawihan.

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As usual, Thai names become unknowingly known and can confuse anyone. A more complicated example is what we in the West know as Bangkok. A Thai knows it as Krung Thep. [The City of Angels] The actual name? Try reading this:

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit

In Thai:

กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลก ภพนพรัตน์ ราชธานีบุรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์ มหาสถาน อมรพิมาน อวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะ วิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์

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Through the door was a large temple patio complex. It was covered by multiple canvas tent tops. They create shade from the sun and shelter from the rain. There were stacks of chairs piled up. Seated alone in the center was an older woman, her back humped, dressed in all white with her hands wai-ed to her face. She was listening to the echos from the temple where the monks were doing their evening chants in Pali. She was the only person I could see.

As I walked toward the temple the sounds increased and then, when I got to the marble temple stairs, the chants suddenly stopped.

At the top of the steps there is a portico and two large windows that look into the temple. There was a man there peering in. I noticed he had his phone and was shooting pictures.

I walked up next to him and looked in.

The monks were all on the floor on their knees. Their toes on the floor pointed to their knees and their arched soles and heels propped up their straight backs. Wai-ing in unison, they then bent their backs and brought their heads to the floor three times –

[Jewels]

– The Triple Gem –

I take refuge to the Buddha

I take refuge to the Dharma

I take refuge to the Sangha

 

After their triple gem bows they all sat together on the floor. The head monk said a few words. I couldn’t hear what he said but suddenly, and very unexpectedly, all the monks exploded with outright laughter. They shoved each others shoulders. While that was happening some began to collect their books and, like a school of bright goldfish, they all headed out the door into the night air.

 

I watched them spread out into the complex to their different rooms and compounds. As they walked I saw the older hunchbacked woman wai them. Last but not least, she took the chair where she had spent an hour of her life and stacked it up on a high pile of others.

With the monks disappearing into their quarters I slowly walked around the large extended complex. I didn’t see a single person. All that surrounded me were centuries of collected beauty. In hopes of gaining merit everything had been given to the temple. To elevate ones position. To never be born again. The ultimate escape ritual.

Nirvana.

 

 

Finally, as I exited the door of the compound, I said good night to the handsome man who let me know that it all belongs to the people.

 

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Royal Patronage

The Chakri Dynasty founded in 1782

 Prince Bhikkhu Mongkut - Rama IV

In 1836, Prince Bhikkhu Mongkut (ordination name: Vajirañāṇo) arrived at the temple and became its first abbot, founding the Thammayut Nikkaya order. He stayed at the temple for 27 years before acceding the throne of Siam as King Rama IV.[3]


 King Bhumibol Adulyadej - Rama IX

His great-grandson, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX; ordination name: Bhumibalo), was ordained a monk at Wat Phra Kaew, and resided in Bowonniwet for 15 days in 1956. Bhumibol's mentor, Somdet Phra Yanasangworn, eventually became abbot of the temple, and later the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand. 

In 1978, King Bhumibol's son, King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X; ordination name: Vajirālankaraṇo), was also ordained and spent 15 days at Bowonniwet. Several of his sons from his second wife, Yuvadhida Polpraserth, later did the same.[4]

In October 1976, exiled dictator and former Prime Minister, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, returned to Thailand as a novice monk to enter Bowonniwet. This sparked large public demonstrations and a bloody crackdown that became known as the Thammasat University massacre or the "6 October Event".

To learn more about the architecture, 11th and 12th century Buddhist statues at the temple go to Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Bowonniwet_Vihara