The Royal Family tree
As per tradition, wood from the fragrant but dead standing
kalamet tree will be used in the funeral of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej
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Published: 28/11/2016 at
04:30 AM
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The
tree is about 15m-tall. It stands in the forest of Kui Buri National Park in
Prachuap Khiri Khan, 280km south of Bangkok. Its branches spread out, but they
do not have a single leaf.
The tree is dead, and it is one of 12 lifeless-yet-standing mai
chan hom, known commonly as kalamet, a fragrant and auspicious tree to be cut
and then used as a material in the royal funeral of His Majesty King Bhumibol
Adulyadej which is expected to take place late next year.
"Mai chan hom is a royal tree," said Anandha Chuchoti,
director-general of the Fine Arts Department. "It is our tradition to use
the tree for making royal urns for kings or royal families. It is a custom that
can be traced back to the Ayutthaya period."
Historical records show that kalamet -- which is sometimes
confused with its relative sandalwood -- was first used for the cremation of
King Naresuan in the 17th century. In addition to making royal urns, the wood
from mai chan hom was also used throughout history for the
construction of Phra Merumat, or the royal crematorium, the palace-like
structure in which the royal urn is housed.
"The
royal urn and Phra Merumat for His Majesty must be grand and majestic,"
said Anandha, adding that the design has been completed by its Office of
Traditional Arts. The department expects to have kalamet boards delivered from
Kui Buri National Park to the Office of Traditional Arts in Nakhon Pathom by
December. The construction of the royal crematorium will begin in February,
said the director-general.
Phra
Merumat will be built on the grounds of Sanam Luang, a vast green field to the
north of the Grand Palace. A spiritual as well as historical landmark of the
city, Sanam Luang has been used as the funeral ground of kings, queens, princes
and princesses since the beginning of the present Chakri dynasty of the
Rattanakosin era. The last time Bangkok saw a royal funeral pyre was at the
cremation of Her Royal Highness Princess Bejraratana Rajasuda in April 2012.
But
the royal cremation of His Majesty the King will be a majestic farewell
unprecedented in scale and historical gravity. The last time a Thai king was
cremated was 66 years ago, when King Ananda Mahidol was cremated in March 1950
at Sanam Luang.
The
exact spot will be announced within the second week of January, according to
the Deputy Prime Minister Gen Tanasak Patimapragorn, the chairman of the
committee supervising the construction.
The
committee expects the construction to be completed by September 2017.
Kalamet, not sandalwood
On
Nov 14, a Brahmin priest performed a blessing rite and Wud Sumitra, deputy
secretary-general of The Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary,
marked 12 kalamet trees at Kui Buri National Park, heralding the first step in
the long preparation process of the royal cremation.
Kui Buri National Park Chief Kanjanapun Khamkhaeng said the park
is home to high-quality kalamet trees, which have several Thai names including chan
hom, chan chamot, chan khao and chan phama.
Because of the taxonomy, the kalamet is sometimes confused with
the sandalwood tree. Both of them are known generally as mai chan in
Thai.
But based on the botanical encyclopedia Thai Plant Names by
the late Prof Tem Smitinand and published by the Royal Forest Department,
kalamet is listed in the Sterculiaceae family and in the Mansonia genus.
Its scientific name is mansonia gagei drumm.
Sandalwood, on the other hand, is in the Santalaceae family
and in the genus of Santalum. The sandalwood tree is known as mai
chan hom India in Thai.
"The wood for making the royal urn is always mai chan
hom [kalamet tree]. We don't have mai chan hom India[sandalwood tree]
in the park," said the park chief.
There's more arboreal confusion. Many people relate mai
chan hom with another plant called kritsana, which is also known as mai
hom, meaning fragrant wood. Kritsana's botanic name is agarwood (Aquilaria
malaccensis) and is listed in the Thymelaeaceae family. The tree
produces fragrant resin caused by fungal invasion into its crevices. Agarwood
oil is regarded as the king of perfumes.
Kalamet
and sandalwood can also be extracted for fragrant oil. The oil is also used for
producing perfumes, cosmetics and medicinal preparations. The high quality oil
is found in the heartwood or the centre of slender trunks of mature trees aged
at least 60. The fragrance of both kalamet and sandalwood can remain in the
trees for years after they have died.
For
centuries, the fragrant oil has made these trees valuable. While Thailand uses
kalamet trees for making urns and royal palaces, the Burmese use them to carve
Buddha images. The Chinese prefer to use sandalwood for producing luxury items
such as inlaid boxes, combs, fans and incense sticks, and upper-class Indians
often use sandalwood logs for building pyres.
The
tree and the royal urns
In
Thailand, the kalamet tree is protected by the Forest Act BE 2484. It is listed
in a specially prohibited wood, meaning cutting or logging of the tree is
prohibited unless permission is granted by the minister of the Natural
Resources and Environment Ministry.
This
means anyone can plant the tree, but they can't cut them down even if they are
planted in the growers' properties, unless they obtain permission to do so.
Kalamet
trees can be found in a number of national parks including Khao Yai in Nakhon
Ratchasima, Kaeng Krachan in Phetchaburi, Sam Roi Yot, Kui Buri and Nam Tok
Huai Yang in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Kui
Buri National Park chief Kanjanapun said dead-standing kalamet trees in the
park have been used for making royal urns several times.
The first was for the late Princess Mother in 1996. The second
time the trees were used was for making the royal urn for Her Royal Highness
Princess Galyani Vadhana in 2008. The third time three kalamet trees were cut
for making dok mai chan, or artificial flowers used in cremation rites,
and other items for the ceremony of the late Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra
Nyanasamvara Suvaddhana Mahathera in 2015.
"The
trees used in those ceremonies were all older than 100-years-old," he
said.
The
royal urn of His Majesty will mark the fourth time the kalamet trees from Kui
Buri have been used. The age of the trees will be verified by the Forestry
Faculty of Kasetsart University later.
The
park officers will cut and process the trees by next month. Based on the
requirements of the Fine Arts Department, the national park chief believes that
four out of 12 kalamet trees in the pre-cutting ceremony on Nov 14 will be
enough for the royal ceremony. (During the pre-cutting ceremony, nine kalamet
trees were planted in the park. Each tree is about five-years-old.)
The
chief would not give the exact date of the tree-cutting event, explaining that
the image of trees being cut down might look unbecoming for national park
officers. In addition, he has a concern about safety when timber falls to the
ground.
According
to Charin Chayarun, chief of craftsmen of the Office of Traditional Arts, all
wooden boards from the trees must be thoroughly dried otherwise the shapes of
fretwork will be distorted.
The
office asks the national park to process kalamet logs into thin boards with the
thickness in the range of 2-6mm. Each board will be carved like a paper pattern
in minute detail. For example, making a flower will require two layers of
carved wooden petals and another two layers for round pollen. Each piece will
be carefully glued together to be a complete flower before being attached to
the metal frame of the royal urn.
The
office says that it will also allow some members of the public who have skills
in craftwork to participate in the process of making the urn for HM the King.
After
the royal cremation, the royal urn is expected to be kept for an exhibition in
the National Museum Bangkok like the previous royal urns of the late Princess
Mother and Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana.
The
kalamet tree is mai chan hom, a close relative but not the same as the
sandalwood tree, which is in the family of mai chan hom India.
Kalamet
wood from Kui Buri National Park will be used in the construction of Phra
Merumat, or the royal pyre, for the cremation of His Majesty King Bhumibol
Adulyadej. Construction will begin next February and finish in September. This
is the fourth time kalamet trees from Kui Buri have been used for making royal
urns and pyres.
The
kalamet tree is protected by the Forest Act BE 2484. Anyone can plant it but
cutting it down requires permission of the authorities.
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