Bangkok - Providing a rare glimpse of Thailand's royal pageantry and rituals, the funeral procession for Princess Galyani Vadhana, the elder sister of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was held Saturday. The princess' remains were escorted on an ornate palanquin carried by 60 soldiers from the Dusit Maha Prasart Throne Hall at the Grand Palace, where the remains had been lying in state for the past 11 months, to Sanam Luang, or the Royal Grounds, where Thai kings and royal family members have been cremated for the past two centuries.
King Bhumibol and his wife, Queen Sirikit, presided over the chanting of Buddhist prayers and a "symbolic lighting" of the cremation fire Saturday evening.
The actual cremation was scheduled for 9 pm (1400 GMT), allowing the more than 3,000 invited guests a chance to pay their respects to the princess by placing sandalwood flowers on her bier.
The funeral platform, built to resemble the mythical Mount Meru, the Hindu heaven, took 200 artists more than seven months to construct, and cost about 375 million baht (11 million dollars).
Galyani died on January 2 of abdominal cancer, aged 84. The government declared three days of official mourning from Friday to Sunday. For royalty, it is a tradition to wait a year for an auspicious date to hold the funeral.
Although the funeral's highlight will be the cremation Saturday night, other processions such as the gathering of the bones and ashes, will continue until Wednesday.
The funeral provides a show of pageantry, Brahmin and Buddhist ritual and Thai artistry not witnessed since the ceremonies after the death of the king's princess mother Srinagarinda in 1996.
Galyani was allowed seven tiers ofwhite umbrellas over her funeral bier, the highest royal honour allowed.
Galyani's funeral will have its own distinctive flavour. From late evening Saturday until the early hours of Sunday, five of Thailand's symphony orchestras will be playing classical music at the funeral.
The princess, besides heading 63 charities, was a patron of classical music in Thailand. She is also remembered as one of Thailand's leading promoters of French language studies.
The ceremonies officially began Friday evening when the king and and his wife visited the Dusit Maha Prasart Throne Hall to perform Buddhist merit-making rites.
The funeral has cost the Thai government an estimated 375 million baht (11 million dollars).
Tens of thousands of Thais flocked to Sanam Luang to view the procession and pay their last respects to the much-revered elder sister of the king, who has been Thailand's monarch for the past 62 years.
"We are here because we love the princess and the king," said Lek Paekhajae, 65, a farmer from Nakorn Sawan, 210 kilometres north of Bangkok. Lek and his wife arrived at Sanam Luang Friday morning to make sure they had a frontline view of the processions. The public will not be allowed into the cremation area.
Galyani had the distinction of being the elder sister of two Thai kings - Ananda Mahidol and Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Bhumibol has been the monarch since 1946, following the death of his brother Ananda. Bhumibol, the world's longest reigning living monarch, will turn 81 on December 5.
"We love her because she did a lot for the common people and also because she helped to raise her brother, the king," said Tipyatabienkarn Laiad, 75, a former pharmacy professor at Mahidol University.
Born in London, Galyani spent much of her childhood and teenage years in Switzerland, where she and her brothers grew up before returning to Thailand to take up royal duties.
