2 . The birth of Bangkok-Rattanakosin

Oct 03, 2004

At his enthronement on June 13, 1782, King Rama I bestowed an auspicious name upon the new capital of Siam on the east bank of the Chao Phya River: Krungthep Mahanakhorn Amorn Rattanakosin Mahintra Yutthaya Mahadilokpop Noparat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Rachanivet Mahasathan Amornpiman Avartarnsathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukamprasit.

The name is locally shortened to "Krungthep Mahanakorn" or "Krungthep", but to foreigners, the city remains known as Bangkok.

The design and architecture for the settlement of Rattanakosin closely followed the traditions of the ancient capital of Ayutthaya. It was sited, for protection, beside a river, and turned into an artificial island by the construction of defensive canals.

To the north of the Grand Palace, adjoining the royal temple of Wat Pra Kaeo, was Pra Sumeru Field, where royal cremations were held. In the east was Sanam Chai, where the King reviewed his troops. To the west was the river, and to the south Wat Poh.

Rama I ordered the ceremonial raising of the City Pillar on April 21, 1782. It is made from laburnum wood and decorated with heartwood and contains the city's "birth certificate". For a long time a rumour persisted that on the day the City Pillar was erected four snakes had crawled beneath it and been swiftly killed, a bad omen signifying that Bangkok would remain the capital for only 150 years.

Rama IV, an expert on astrology, therefore formally inscribed a new birth certificate, changing the date to December 5, 1852. The Pillar was rebuilt and now rests in the City Pillar Shrine on Maha Chai Road.

Oddly, however, the 1932 political coup that changed Siam from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy occurred on the city's "original" 150th anniversary.

Rama I also had images of three devas, or guardian angels, forged: Phra Suea Muang (symbolising military power), Phra Song Muang (civil power) and Phra Lak Muang (juridical power). The first two are now in the Thepharak Shrine, near the City Pillar Shrine.

The image of Phra Siam Devadhiraj, chief of all Siamese guardian angels, was created in the reign of Rama IV and can be seen today in the Grand Palace's Phaisan Taksin Throne Hall.

The Emerald Buddha (Phra Putta Maha Mani Rattana Patimakorn, or Phra Kaeo Morakot), often described as the national Buddha image, was placed in Wat Phra Kaeo. Brought from Vientiane by Rama I, it is said to have first appeared in Chiang Rai around 1434, according to Lanna chronicles. Rama I ordered the extension of defensive canals from Lod Canal, which had been dug in King Taksin's time, to the present-day Banglamphu-Ong Ang canals. The Padung Krung Kasem Canal was dug later.

People settled on both banks of the Chao Phya. The old areas on the west bank, in present-day Phasi Charoen district and from the Temple of Dawn to Wat Rakhang, were crowded with communities of Thais, Mons and Chinese. Not far from Bangkok Yai Canal there lived Muslims and Catholic Christians, including French and Portuguese.

The east bank, along with the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo, now became home to people from all walks of life. Nobles and royal attendants settled near the Grand Palace, while Banglamphu bloomed from a simple village of gardeners to become, since the time of Rama IV, an entertainment hub. The old Chinese population of the area that became the Grand Palace resettled at Sampeng. Present-day Tha Tien from Ban Moh to Pahurat became a home to Viet, Lao and Mon communities.

Wat Poh, built in the Ayutthaya period, was enlarged and became the primary temple under King Rama I's patronage. It is said to have been Thailand's first university, because King Rama III later ordered texts inscribed on stone slabs around the temple for people to read and learn from. Wat Mahathat was also enlarged between the reigns of Rama I and Rama IV and became the centre of Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhist learning in Southeast Asia.

Rama I also built Wat Suthat to house, in Bangkok's tallest vihara hall, an eight-metre-tall statue of Phra Sri Sakaya Muni Buddha he had brought from Sukhothai. It is believed that the King wanted the temple, in Buddhist tradition, to symbolise the centre of the universe. Wat Suthat is situated in the centre of Rattanakosin, near where the Brahmin Devasathan Temple and the Giant Swing were built in 1784.

The Siamese historically practised both Buddhism and Hinduism, as derived from Sri Lanka and India, while several royal ceremonies had their roots in the Devaraja (god-king) doctrine of Khmer tradition. Triyumpavai-Tripavai, the Swing Ceremony, was held to honour Shiva's annual visit to earth. In a ritual believed to symbolise the rising and setting of the sun, teams of young men were swung to a height of 25 metres to grab a bag of gold suspended from the end of a bamboo pole with their teeth.

The ceremony was one of 12 annual royal rituals. In the Ayutthaya period it was held in the first lunar month but moved to the second lunar month in the Rattanakosin period, ultimately dropping from the list of royal ceremonies during the reign of Rama VII.

No temple within Rattanakosin was allowed to hold cremations, so Wat Saket was built outside the city wall for the purpose. The nearby Golden Mount was built during the reign of Rama III.

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