Ashes of Cambodian king lowered into river

Several white sacks containing the ashes, including the pyre, were ferried on an ornate barge to the confluence of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers in Phnom Penh, where members of the royal family lowered them into the water.

In a somber televised ceremony earlier, mourners led by Sihanouk's widow Monique and his son — current King Norodom Sihamoni, picked out some of the ex-king's blackened bones from the crematorium to be kept in an urn at the royal palace.

The bones, which were washed in coconut juice and water from a sacred mountain, will be taken to the palace on Thursday when the weeklong funeral ends, a palace official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

“The royal urn containing the King-Father's remains will be kept in the Kantha Bopha stupa,” the official said, referring to Sihanouk's favorite daughter who died aged three and whose remains are also at the palace.

After chanting by monks and mourners passed around candles, Sihamoni and his mother led royal family members and government officials — including Prime Minister Hun Sen — to pick out the bones for use as relics.

Sihanouk died of a heart attack in Beijing in October, aged 89. His embalmed body had been lying in state since then at the royal palace.

His cremation was part of a days-long funeral, which started with a lavish procession through the streets of Phnom Penh on Friday.

On Monday smoke rose from the crematory marking the cremation in an elaborate pagoda-like structure built specially for the occasion.

A 101-gun salute also echoed in the night and fireworks burst over the city.

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	BOJ chief stepping down before term ends: reports

NEXT ARTICLE
S. Korea, US begin drills amid North threat

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit