The Royal Barge Procession
Three and twenty Mandarins of the lowest Order of the Palace appeared first, every one in a Balon [barge] of State…These were followed by fifty other balons of his Majesties Officers...[which] had from thirty to sixty oars apiece...After these came twenty balons more, bigger than the former...Next, the king appeared in his, raised upon a throne of a piramidal figure and extraordinary well gilt...and...rowed by six score watermen... We reckoned in all one hundred and fifty nine, of which the biggest were near six score foot long and hardly six foot over at the broadest place.
— A description of the royal barge procession of 1685 by French Jesuit, Père Guy Tachard
Over three centuries have since passed, yet this breathtaking spectacle remains awe inspiring, not only in its majestic beauty but also the grace with which the fleet of 52 barges solemnly glides down the Chao Phraya River — the ‘River of Kings’.
When the gilded paddles of the principal barge, the swan-prowed Sri Suphannahongse, are raised in unison, it is as though a mythical bird is about to lift from the water.
The other 51 barges, arrayed across the river in what is traditionally termed a battle formation, create a panorama of rare regal splendour. The blare of conches and trumpets, the songs of the coxswains, and the stentorian chants of the paddlers provide the right cadence for the oar strokes, enhance the spectacle, and mesmerize spectators into respectful silence – much as these same rare sounds have done for hundreds of years
The Royal Barge Procession is the ultimate reflection of the Thai fascination with water, the central element in Thailand’s rites of passage, festivals, and religion. An aerial view of Thailand’s northern and central plains reveals why. A vast silvery labyrinth of natural and hand-dug waterways slices through the lowland plains. Villages hug banks of rivers and canals and draw from them the life-sustaining water that nourishes lush crops and harbours fish, the two staples of the Thai diet. It is along these liquid highways that a variety of water processions have travelled over the centuries.
In descending order of importance, they include
- Coronations
It was only appropriate that a prince travel in the most exalted vessel available to the most important event in his life: his coronation. Although wheeled vehicles have replaced barges, records of their magnificence abound in ancient manuscripts.
A Water-borne Procession with a Buddha image
Since ancient times, barges have carried revered Buddha images. When King Naresuan the Great (1590-1605) rode to battle, the Suphannahongse royal barge bearing the Phra Chai Buddha (Victory Buddha) image containing relics of the Lord Buddha led the flotilla. In 1781, barges transported the Emerald Buddha from Ayutthaya to its final home in Bangkok’s Wat Phra Kaeow. The famous image that now occupies the nave of Wat Suthat was transported from Sukhothai to Bangkok on a raft
Royal River Tour of the Great Capital
In the former capital of Ayutthaya and also in Bangkok, kings embarked on royal river tours along the moats that embraced their stout city walls. It was for this reason, as well as defensive considerations, that until the late 19th century, no permanent bridges were erected over the moats, and the royal progress on these annual circuits went unimpeded.
The Royal Kathin Procession to Present Monastic Robes
The progenitor of the Royal Barge Procession as we know it today dates from the reign of King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai (1275-1316 AD). The Lanna Chronicles note that the King was conveyed by night in a fleet of barges to present robes to the monks to mark the end of the three-month Buddhist Rains Retreat, a ceremony known as the Kathin ritual. By the mid-Ayutthaya period a few hundred years later, these processions were conducted during the day.
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