People are encouraged to wear yellow clothes as they join Interior Ministry-sponsored ceremonies being held countrywide to make "holy water" for use in the coronation ceremony of His Majesty the King.
Yellow represents Monday, or the day when the King was born on July 28, 1952. Provincial governors across the country today will lead state officials to collect water from 107 sacred sources.
The water is expected to be blessed by monks on Monday of next week, followed by candle lighting ceremonies organised to celebrate lustral water on Tuesday. People can also participate in the three-day event by "wearing polite clothes with a yellow tone", Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paojinda said yesterday.
The water-collecting ritual is based on a Brahmin tradition, called phli kam. Provincial governors will also pay homage to deities before ladling water into khan nam sakhon, which are brass containers with handles made into the shape of the heads of singha, a Hindu mythological creature similar to a lion.
The water will be carried by cars which will head to important provincial temples where Buddhist ceremonies will be held on Monday to bless the water. Once blessed, the water will be put into a khontho, which are specially made white ceramic vases.
The lustral water will eventually be moved to Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram in the Grand Palace the following day for use in the coronation ceremony, which will span three days from May 4-6.
