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It was on the morning of the15th of October last that the whole Kingdom of Cambodia was stunned to learn that their beloved and much revered King Father Norodom Sihanouk had died suddenly of a massive heart attack in Beijing just a couple of weeks before he had intended to return to Phnom Penh for his birthday celebrations. A million people lined the streets from the airport to the Royal Palace to watch the return of the King's body two days later accompanied by the Queen Mother and their son the present King Norodom Sihamoni.
Since that day, His Majesty has been lying in state in the Royal Palace. It is a tradition here that on the death of a King or Queen, their funeral and cremation does not take place for about three months. To a westerner that may seem strange, but there are many reasons for it. Such a funeral and cremation takes much preparation which cannot be completed in a matter of days. Also the time allows people from all over the country to come and pay their respects to the late monarch.
Since the passing of King Sihanouk in October, hundreds of thousands of people have come from all over the country to pray and pay their respects outside the Palace. It was not unusual on any evening, to see two or three thousand people sitting there. On occasions there were some 30,000 monks there. Such is the love of the people for the Royal Family and in particular for the late King Father. On several evenings during this time period, Her Majesty the Queen Mother as well as King Sihamoni would come out from the Palace and mingle with the crowd and talk with them. It was not unusual to see the Queen Mother sitting on the road itself, talking to some old people who had traveled many miles to be there.
Over the past three months, a most impressive crematorium was built in a park next to the Royal Palace, together with some six or seven pavilions to accommodate the Royal Family, foreign dignitaries, invited guests and members of the Government. It is a dignified building and one fitting for such an occasion.
On the morning of February 1st, The gold coffin containing the late King's body was brought from the Palace on a big golden float. Some 1-million plus people lined the route to watch the procession and among the silent crowds, tears were shed as the float carrying the coffin past them by. Twenty thousand people took part in the procession that took almost four hours to complete its route back to the cremation compound next to the Palace. Apart from the armed forces and the police and government officials, representatives were there from all the different people that make up the population of Cambodia. The seventeen ethnic tribes from Mondolkiri and Rattanakiri provinces in the north were there in force marching in their traditional costumes.They were followed by a large contingent of the Chinese population as well the Islam population. Cambodia had never seen such a procession. The last King who died was King Suramarit, who was King Sihanouk's father. He was popular but not as popular as his son, and his funeral was less dramatic.
Their Majesties The Queen Mother and King Sihamoni did not take part in the procession but waited until it returned from its route around the city and passed once more in front of the Palace before stopping at the cremation compound. At that point both the King and the Queen Mother came out of the Palace Gate dressed in their traditional white silk mourning wear and walked from the Palace to the cremation compound acknowledging the crowds as they went.
The King's body lay on a big pedestal in the crematorium for three days, then on Monday 4th February the cremation took place. It was a dignified four hour event that could not fail to move any who were present and watched. Many dignitaries from around the world came including the Prime Ministers of France, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam. HRH Prince Akishino of Japan, the Vice Premier of China, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei and many others were present.
At 6.00pm Their Majesties the Queen Mother and King Sihamoni entered the crematorium and after prayers they started the cremation fire. It was a very private and personal moment and no cameras of any kind were allowed to be present at that time. Some western people were anticipating being able to see a huge cloud of smoke arising, but nothing of the kind. At the moment of starting the cremation, all around the compound pyrotechnic operated smoke - such as you see on some variety stages - shot into the air for just a few seconds and after that nothing could be seen except what looked like steam coming from the very top of the crematorium. At the same time a 21-gun salute was fired to honor the life of a great statesman who loved his country and people, and a huge firework display went on over the Mekong River as a celebration of his life.
The next morning, following the instructions of King Sihanouk himself, some of his ashes were taken on a Royal Barge to where the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers meet in front of the Royal Palace, and they were scattered there. The remaining ashes were taken in a golden urn to the Royal Palace where they will be placed in a stupe there next to those of the King's daughter and also his son who died in 2004.
My personal feeling is that this was indeed an extremely fitting tribute and final farewell
to a man who lived his life for the good of his country and his
people. A man of tremendous personality who brought independence to his
country from colonial rule and then finally brought stability and
peace. He was a fascinating person who loved to sing, dance and tell
stories. He liked nothing better than to be out and about among his
people whether in the country in the small villages and farms or in the city. He will be greatly missed by all here, but he will never be forgotten.
