THE MAHAMONTIEN This consisted of three main buildings, namely: (1) the Audience Hall of Amarindra , where ceremonies of the Court usually take place in front of the throne surmounted by its canopy of nine tiers of white cloth and backed by a boatshaped altar fronting the door leading in to the inner chambers; (2) Paisal Hall where the coronation of a monarch takes place with its coronation chair and the octagonal seat where the monarch receives the people's invitation to rule; and in the centre between the seats an altar containing the symbolised figure of Siam, by the name of "Pra Syamadevadhiraj" or shortly "Pra Syam" traditionally invoked for the good weal of the state. (3) Descending from here we here we come to the antechamber to the Cakrabardibiman building which was the residence of Kings Rama I,Rama II and Rama III. It has subsequently become customary for the sovereign to pass at least one night there after the coronation to signify his taking up official residence. On either side of the door into residence chamber of Cakrabardibiman are depicted seals of state the Lion of the Interior , the Elephantine Lion of the Minister of Defence, the Deity of the Crystal Lotus of the Minister of Foreign Affairs etc. Entering the living apartments of Cakrabardibiman by mounting a series of steps we come to a hall, at the left of which on the east side is the royal bedchamber . On the west of the hall is a reception chamber where are now kept the regalia and other paraphernalia of kingship.
CAKRI GROUP Here we have an audience hall with a throne of mother pf pearl surmounted by the usual nine-tiered white canopy,the mark of a duly crowned king . At the back of this audience hall is yet a living quarter . all are built in pure Siamese architecture of perfect proportions . In front of this group is the Disrobing Pavilion Abhornbhimok which was reproduced and sent to adorn the Thailand exhibits at the exhibition of Brussels in 1958.
When King Mongkut came to the throne he had another palace built on the site of the present Sivalaya garden to the east of the Mahamontien, the main part of this being given the name of Boromabiman. Owing to the inferior building material available at the time the palace had to be dismantled in the reign of King Culalongkorn and the name of Boromabiman reserved for another building which the King had Building later for son and heir a little to the north to the original building of that name. When King Rama VI came to the throne , he had the new Boromabiman touched up for residence . Among the innovations was the quaddrangular dome over the inner chamber , with frescoes depicting the Siamese conception of the Vedic gods of India held up as the guardians of the Universe . starting with Indra on the east side , we come to Yama on the south , then Varuna on the west and finally Agni on the north side . Beneath the Vedic gods are written the Ten Kingly Virtues for the monarch's obsservance . Commencing again with the east under Indra we have danam , giving ; silam , right conduct; pariccagain, personal sacrifice-material as well as spiritual; then on the south side ajjavam, honesty and freedom from pretence; maddavam, gentleness and humility ; tapam, concentration of effort; on the west : akkodham, freedom from anger ; avihimsa , freedom from malice ; and finally on the north side khanti , patience ; and avirodhanam avoidance of wrong doing.
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