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The National
2 days ago
- General
- The National
Best photos of June 3: Drought in Qamishli to de-mining in Raqqa
Royal purification The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India. The crown Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair. The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command. The audience On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence. The procession The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city. Meet the people On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
Free Malaysia Today
21-05-2025
- Science
- Free Malaysia Today
Nepal holds tribute for disappearing glacier
Dozens of trekkers fly prayer flags as Buddhist monks perform a ceremony for the preservation of the fast-shrinking Yala glacier. (AFP pic) KATHMANDU : Dozens trekked to Nepal's Yala glacier for a ceremony Monday to mark its rapid disappearance due to climate change and put a spotlight on global glacial retreat. The Yala glacier, located between 5,170 and 5,750 metres above sea level, is in the Langtang Valley in northern Nepal. Since 1974, the glacier has shrunk in area by 66% and retreated 784 metres, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Scientists warn it may eventually disappear by the 2040s if the warming trend continues, and might be among the first in Nepal to join the growing numbers of glaciers declared 'dead' worldwide. 'In the 40 years I have studied this glacier, I have seen it halve with my own eyes. We worry that the next generation might not be able to see it,' Sharad Prasad Joshi, a cryosphere specialist at ICIMOD, told AFP. Prayer flags fluttered Monday as Buddhist monks performed a ceremony for Yala, with the Himalayas towering behind them. Two granite plaques were unveiled engraved with memorial messages in Nepali, English and Tibetan. 'This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it,' part of the message in one of the plaques read. The words were by Icelandic writer Andri Snaer Magnason, whose message is also at the site of the world's first glacier funeral in Iceland. Glacier funerals have also been held in Mexico, the United States and Switzerland. The ceremony comes as the world marked near-record high global temperatures in April, according to the EU's climate monitor. In its latest bulletin, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said that April was the second-hottest in its dataset, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations. All but one of the last 22 months exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement, beyond which major and lasting climate and environmental changes become more likely. 'Time to act' Yala is one of seven glaciers in the 3,500-kilometre-long arc of the Hindu Kush Himalayas to have been monitored annually for a decade or more, according to ICIMOD. Joshi said that the ceremony was also to honour the glacier as it has been an 'open textbook' for young researchers and glaciologists. Himalayan glaciers, providing critical water to nearly two billion people, are melting faster than ever before due to climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters. Experts say that on current melt rates, many glaciers worldwide will not survive the 21st century. Last month, the United Nations said that all 19 of the world's glacier regions experienced a net loss of mass in 2024 for the third consecutive year. Together, they lost 450 billion tonnes of mass, the organisation said, citing new data from the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service. Maheshwar Dhakal, chief at the Nepal government's climate change management division, said in a statement shared by ICIMOD that Nepal is at the frontlines of the impacts of temperature rise despite minimal emissions. 'We are urging world leaders to pay attention to the changes in mountain glaciers, such as Yala, because our own fate, and futures, is bound up in those of our frozen freshwater reserves,' Dhakal said. 'Glacier loss is irreversible on human timescales. The time to act is now.'
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Cambodia's 'Day of Remembrance' marks the 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge genocide
About 2,000 people attended Cambodia's annual Day of Remembrance Tuesday to mark half a century since Cambodia's communist Khmer Rouge launched a four-year reign of terror that caused the deaths of about 1.7 million people. Some three dozen student actors from a Phnom Penh art school re-enacted brutalities under the Khmer Rouge, which held power from 1975-1979, when an estimated one-quarter of Cambodia's population was wiped out due to tortures, executions, starvation and misrule. The official ceremony honoring the victims of what a U.N.-backed tribunal judged to be genocide was held at Choeung Ek, site of a Khmer Rouge 'Killing Field' about 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of the capital Phnom Penh. Several dozen Buddhist monks were among those attending. Garbed in black, the Khmer Rouge's standard attire, the performers acted as executioners, swinging bamboo sticks at the heads of victims whose arms were bound behind their backs. The re-enactment was held near a memorial displaying victims' skulls and mass graves where thousands of others were buried. 'When I come here, it reminded me, and I will never forget, this Khmer Rouge regime because it was extremely cruel and barbaric,' said 71-year-old Nhem Sovann, a Phnom Penh resident who said she lost six family members — her parents-in-law and two brothers and two sisters. She was put to work faming a rice field in the western province of Pursat. "I saw with my own eyes that even children were taken and had their heads smashed against the trunk of a coconut tree,' she said, sobbing. For a younger generation, the 'Day of Remembrance' is a learning experience. Pen Kunthea, a 23-year-old art student who portrayed a government soldier who rescued fellow Cambodians from the Khmer Rouge as they were being chased from power in early 1979, said the more she performs, the more she learns. She said she first learned about the Khmer Rouge regime from her parents and from her studies, and that one of her uncles died from illness during the Khmer Rouge's time in power. 'I feel scared, and I think the Khmer Rouge made our people afraid and I don't want that regime to happen again,' Pen Kunthea said. 'When I perform, it makes me feel like I was in the middle of the story,' she said, adding that she was excited to be able to portray the history of the regime. The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975 and immediately herded almost all the city's residents into the countryside, where they were forced to toll in harsh conditions until in 1979, when the regime was driven from power by an invasion from neighboring Vietnam. In 1984, a new Cambodian government installed by the Vietnamese declared May 20, the day the genocide was said to begin, to be a 'National Day of Hatred' for people to vent their anger against the Khmer Rouge and its backers. At the time the Khmer Rouge were still trying to regain power by fighting a guerrilla war from the countryside, only to be finally subdued in 1997. In 2018, the day was officially redesignated the National Day of Remembrance, with an emphasis on honoring the victims. In a statement issued Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Manet urged all Cambodians join in preserving and protecting peace. 'Even though these tragic events have passed, and the Cambodian people have been living in peace, political stability, and full of development in all fields, we must not let go or forget this bitter past," he said.
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Vesak Day 2025: celebrations of Buddha
Vesak, also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists and some Hindus in south and southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia Photograph: Devi Rahman/AFP/Getty Images Visitors watch as hot air balloons are launched at Ngawen Temple complex in Muntilan, Central Java, Indonesia Photograph: Devi Rahman/AFP/Getty Images Dancers perform in the Progo River in Magelang, Central Java, as others release fish in a traditional life-release ritual held on the eve of Vesak Day, in Magelang, Central Java Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images Buddhist monks take part in a ritual on Vesak Day in Magelang, Central Java. Photograph: Dwi Oblo/Reuters A giant thangka, a canvas painting of Buddha, is held up for people to walk under to receive blessings from the Buddha for the coming year, in Ipoh, Malaysia Photograph: Fazry Ismail/EPA People visit a Pandal, a temporary platform decorated with illuminated panels illustrating episodes from the life of Buddha, in Colombo, Sri Lanka Photograph: Thilina Kaluthotage/Reuters People pour fragrant water over a statue of Buddha to symbolise inner purification and act as a reminder to clear their minds of negative thoughts, at Tunjungan Plaza in Surabaya, Indonesia Photograph:Thousands of lanterns are released in front of Borobudur Temple, the world's largest Buddhist monument and a Unesco World Heritage Site, in Magelang Photograph: ZUMA Press/Alamy Live News A monk prays during celebrations organised by the Maha Bodhi Society in Bangalore, India Photograph: Jagadeesh Nv/EPA Devotees with lotus flowers offer prayers at the Kelaniya Temple Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images A man holds a giant incense stick during celebrations at the Enlightened Heart Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Ipoh, Malaysia Photograph: Fazry Ismail/EPA Devotees visit the Kelaniya Temple at a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images People light oil lamps as part of their prayers at the Kelaniya Temple Photograph: Thilina Kaluthotage/Reuters A Buddhist monk walks around the Wat Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani, north of Bangkok Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images People gather around a lantern installation in Colombo, Sri Lanka Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images Buddhist monks carry candle lights at a ceremony at the Wat Saket Temple in Bangkok, Thailand Photograph: Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters A Buddha bathing ritual at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery in Singapore Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters People visit the statue of Gautama Buddha to offer prayers at the Global Vipassana Pagoda, in Mumbai, India Photograph: Divyakant Solanki/EPA Temples are decorated with flowers, and offerings of food and flowers are given to the monks Photograph: ZUMA Press/Alamy Live News A woman lights candles at a temple in Denpasar, Bali Photograph: Made Nagi/EPA A temple volunteer lays out candle offerings at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery in Singapore Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters Buddhist monks pose for a photo after praying at Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images A depiction of a reclining Buddha made from electric candles at Wat Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images
