Sacred Royal Pyre items floated into Chao Phraya

“We consider the fire used on the Royal Pyre sacred, something impossible to be put out by just the air or water,” said Boonchai Thongcharoenbua-ngarm, who works for the Royal Household Bureau. “Such sacred fire will stop only when it goes into the great body of water protected by an angel.” 
The Royal Cremation of the late King took place on the gold-guilded Royal Crematorium at the Sanam Luang ceremonial grounds on Thursday night, when flowers and floral curtains were among fresh materials used to adorn the Royal Pyre during the ceremony. 

At about 4am yesterday, flowers that were not burned during the Cremation were moved out of the Royal Pyre and placed on golden trays for the ceremonial floating on the river. 
Royal artisans boarded a boat that headed along the Chao Phraya and then released the flowers into the mouth of the Bangkok Yai Canal.
“With the Fire from Heaven, the Royal Cremation has already ended. May Phra Mae Kongka [Goddess of Water] extinguish the burning fire so that artisans can live in happiness and continue serving the Royal Family and Thailand,” they prayed.
Items used in the Royal Cremation Ceremony have reportedly been released into water in front of the Wichai Prasit Fort, or around the mouth of the Bangkok Yai Canal, ever since the Royal Cremation Ceremony for HM Queen Saovabha Phongsri, the queen of King Rama V. 

Among the floated items were white candles, incense sticks and flowers used by the artisans in a worship ceremony on October 19. 
As head of the agency in charge of the Kingdom’s waterways, Rear Admiral Dechdon Bhusara of the Naval Transportation Department led the ritual for release of the fresh materials from the Royal Pyre into the water. 
Boonchai said at the end of the ceremony that the artisans’ mission in relation to the preparation of fresh materials for the Royal Cremation Ceremony was now complete. 
“We dread such a mission because it starts when there is a loss,” he said.