Top Document: soc.culture.thai Culture FAQ Previous Document: C.1) An introduction to Thai history and culture Next Document: C.3) Buddhism and Thai culture See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge According to the Committee for Rattanakosin Bicentennial Celebration to Commemorate the Rattanakosin Bicentennial who author the book, Phra^ma^haa+ka'sad' nay-phra^bOO-rom-chak'krii-wong- kab'pra'chaa-chon-, or THE CHAKRI MONARCHS AND THE THAI PEOPLE: A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, the English title as given by the authors themselves, after King Rama I, took throne on April 6, 1782, his first task was to find the new site for the capital city. He didn't not want to continue using Thon-bu'rii- as the capital citing the fact that as the wall of the city was on jaaw"phra^yaa- River which could be hard to defend in time of war. Besides, Thon-bu'rii- was in the bottom of the River's curve and the land on its bank eroded. The palace itself was constrainted by two wats: wat^a'run- and wat^thaay^ta'laad'. He believed the other side of the River was better as the city would be situated on the top of the curve. The River itself could serve as a natural kuu-muang- on the western side. On the eastern side, a kuu-muang- (man-made water reservoir created to protect the enemy) could be easily dug. The site was at the time occupied by the Chinese who then were relocated to the new site between Kloong-wat^saam+plUm" and Kloong-wat^sam+pheng-. On Sunday of the sixth month, khUn"sip'kam" (the 10th day of the rising moon period), at 15 minutes after midnight, the City's pillar was erected. The date is translated to the western calendar as April 21, 1782. The new city was named by King Rama I as: "...Krung-theb^ma"haa+na"kOOn- bOO-wOOn-rat"ta'na"ko-sin+ ma"hin+tha"raa-yut^tha^yaa- ma"haa+di'lok'pob^ nob^rat^ta'na^raat"cha^thaa-nii-buu-rii-rom- u'dom-raat"cha^ni^weet^ma"haa+sa'thaan+ a'mOOn-maan-a'wa^taan-sa'thid' sak'ka'thad"ti'ya"wid^sa'nu^kam-pra'sit'..." King Rama IV (Kung Mongkut) had the term bOO-wOON- changed to a'mOOn- as the name now appears. King Rama I ordered a canal to be dug connecting to the River at Baang-lam-phuu- on the northern side and at wat^saam+plUm" on the southern side. Then wall was built along the canal inner side for more than 7 kilometers. Along this wall, there were 14 forts. Within this wall, the Grand Palace was constructed. There were many halls and a wat, wat^phra^sii+rad"ta'na^saad'sa'daa-raam- (wat phra^kAAw"). The palace was cosmologically designed to be the center of the new city. From the name one could see the term a'yut^tha^yaa- which was from, as was that of krung-sii-a'yud^tha^yaa-, the former capital, the legendary a'yoo-tha^yaa- where the Rama was born, as appeared in the Ramayana (or Raam-ma"kian- ...its Thai version). The canal is actually two klongs attached to each other in the inland at pOOm^phra^kaan- (phra^kaan- Fort). The northern one is klOOng-baang-lam-phuu- and the southern one is klOOng-ong'aang'. (ibid, pp. 20-27) Speaking about the cosmology of Thai kingship, Tambiah, a Harvard anthropologist, writes a book in which the term "galactic polity" is used to typify the nature of Thai kingship. The king was concieved as the reincarnation of Naa-raay- or Phra^raam- whose duty was to get rid of the evils. The god stays at the top of phra^su'mee-ru". No wonder, the roof of the palace halls often are in mountain-liked shape (with its pointy top). The throns where the king sits is typically characterized by legendary domains, namely oceans (naa-kaa-...big snake), forest (singha...big lion) and sky (krut".. or garuda as called by Indonesian...the half-man-half-bird being). The su'mee-ru" is surrounded by seven oceans, the Himmapan, and high up in the sky. These mythical animals also appears in the royal river procession (kra'buan-pa"yu^ha'yaad^traa-). Thai kingship is regarded as tham-ma^raa-chaa- as compared to thee-wa^raa- chaa- of Khmer. However, architects of the kingship have not been reluctant to add elements that draw the institution closer to the thee-wa^raa-chaa-. For those who are not familiar with these terms, please note that the former one is referred to the system that the king is to balance between being the warrior and the religious figure. The latter is closer to the Brahminism as the king belong to ka'sat' caste and the Brahm belong the the Brahm caste. The ambition to compromise between the warrior (who kills, and hungers for power) and the religious being (who does not kill and less attached to the worldly materials) is not an easy job. The attempt is seen in symbolic form. The King could be regarded as phra^buddha'chaaw"luang+ (King Rama V). At the end of Sukhothai period, the kings leaned toward the notion of tham-ma^raa-chaa-. One of the kings even had his named representing the idea, e.g. phra^tham-ma^raa-chaa-li"thay-. Tambiah argues that unlike thee-wa^raa-chaa-, the tham-ma^raa-chaa- tends to be weak and will finally lost the interest in conquering the world. User Contributions:Top Document: soc.culture.thai Culture FAQ Previous Document: C.1) An introduction to Thai history and culture Next Document: C.3) Buddhism and Thai culture Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: sct-faq@nucleus.nectec.or.th
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:12 PM
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