Hundreds of monks pray in front of the Royal
Palace yesterday in Phnom Penh.
Almost a year and a half after his
extraordinary cremation in February last year, the ashes of the late King
Father Norodom Sihanouk will be marched through the streets of Phnom Penh today
as part of an elaborate three-day ceremony that began yesterday, before being
interred at the Silver Pagoda on Saturday, their final resting place.
The
King Father had requested to have his ashes interred in the same stupa where
the remains of his daughter, Princess Kantha Bopha, who died in 1952 at the age
of 4 from leukemia, are kept.
The
event, being celebrated as an official holiday and expected to draw tens of
thousands today, has been characterised by those close to him as a “final
farewell” to Sihanouk, who as a monarch, politician and statesman loomed large
over Cambodia for more than 60 years.
Yesterday
evening, 3,600 monks gathered outside the Royal Palace in meditation and prayer
ahead of what was scheduled, according to one program of events, to be a speech
and greeting from King Norodom Sihamoni, who had been meeting with Prime
Minister Hun Sen inside.
But the
King ultimately did not emerge, leading many, including a few lower-level
palace officials, to speculate that the presence of a heavy contingent of
opposition lawmakers led by Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy president Kem
Sokha had swayed his decision.
Oum
Daravuth, adviser to the secretary of the Queen Mother, could not be reached
for comment, while Information Minister Khieu Kanharith denied that the King
had any plan to greet people. Other high-ranking officials on the organising
committee dodged questions on the issue.
Earlier
yesterday morning, officials from every ministry had offered alms to monks
outside the palace before paying their respects at the recently erected statue
of Sihanouk in front of Independence Monument, where they offered wreaths.
Today’s
procession is the largest and most public event of the three-day program. The
late King Father’s ashes are to be interred tomorrow per his wishes.
“The
King made a number of wills and each will changed procedure. But the last will
made clear he wanted his ashes in the stupa of Princess Kantha Bopha and they
have very much respected the will,” said Julio Jeldres, Sihanouk’s former
private secretary and official biographer.
But the
stupa, which was built in 1960, required serious refurbishment and renovation,
according to palace insiders, explaining the lengthy period between cremation
and interment.
“The
former stupa of Princess Kantha Bopha was not in very good [condition], so they
had to reinforce it and embellish it a bit better to be worthy of Sihanouk,”
said Son Soubert, high privy councillor to King Norodom Sihamoni.
The
Silver Pagoda is also home to a stupa bearing the ashes of Sihanouk’s father,
King Norodom Suramarit, who reigned from 1955 until his death in 1960, and his
wife Queen Sisowath Kossamak, who died in 1975.
King
Ang Duong, Sihanouk’s great-great-grandfather, and Ang Duong’s son, King
Norodom, also have stupas dedicated to them in the Silver Pagoda compound.
Other
monarchs are memorialised at the old royal capital of Oudong.
“There
is no prescription as to where the King should be enshrined,” said Soubert,
adding, however, that Sihanouk’s choice was unsurprising. “I think it’s
logical, because he loved that daughter a lot and when he used to travel, he
always took the urn of that daughter with him.”
Following
the cremation last year, some of Sihanouk’s ashes were scattered by the royal
family at the confluence of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers,
while some were sent to a Buddhist temple in Japan.
Today’s
procession will see 7,000 police, military and military police officers
deployed to the streets around the palace, national police spokesman Kirth
Chantharith said.
Large
stretches of Street 178, Norodom Boulevard, Sihanouk Boulevard and Sothearos
Boulevard will be blocked.
While
he couldn’t specify how many people would attend, Chantharith said “all people
were welcome”.
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