Paying respect

The ceremony is being organised by the Fine Arts Department at Chulalongkorn University's Main Auditorium. It is aimed at supporting the spirit of performers and encouraging them to respect their teachers. Performers believe this ceremony will help them to succeed in the show without any obstacle.

"The Art Guru Offering Ceremony and the ceremony of showing respect to teachers have been very important for traditional Thai performances since ancient times," said the master of ceremony, Sirichaicharn Fachamroon. "Performers must pay their respects to the teacher then the teacher will confer blessings on the performer."

Paying obeisance

The performers also paid obeisance to major Hindu gods such as Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma, who they believe bless the performers. Additionally, these ceremonies have created a good relationship be¬tween performers and master, Sirichaicharn added.

He explained that the traditional Thai performance during the royal cremation ceremony for a royal family member has been performed since the early Rattanakosin Period. But King Rama VI suspended the performance. It was revived during the Princess Mother's royal cremation ceremony in 1992.

This royal tradition is aimed at entertaining the public during the royal cremation period and to also show the King's power to the public.

Performers, who have trained for the shows since August, will stage several performances after the royal urn is moved to the crematorium site.

There will be 3 stages in the area. Two stages will host traditional performances such as shadow play, masked drama, puppet show, and traditional drama. Another stage will host musical performances from various orchestra groups.

On each stage, performers will spend 11 to 12 hours to entertain the audience.