Thailand Is Preparing To Bid Farewell To The Country’s Revered Former Ruler, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, More Than A Year After He Died.

The world will witness one of the most elaborate funeral ceremonies in history in just a day on the 26th. After 12 months of mourning, Thailand will send off King King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s soul to the afterlife via a grand five-day farewell.

For weeks, local newspapers have run front-page stories on the tiniest details of the ceremony, a sign of national reverence and obsession towards a man who became known as the “father of all Thais”. Many considered the king, whose seven-decade rule made him the world’s longest-serving monarch, to be a demigod.

The country’s top artisans have completed a 10-month project to build a vast golden crematorium, a nine-spired structure that aims to depict the afterlife.

The 50-metre, three-tiered structure represents Mount Meru, the center of the Hindu and Buddhist universe where it is believed Thai royals return after death. It has been adorned with images from mythology and the life of the king, including a pair of statues of his favorite dogs.

Thousands of volunteers, musicians and performers will be involved in the ceremony, while close to 80,000 security personnel will be deployed. A quarter of a million people are expected to descend on Bangkok.

Since the king died last year on 13 October, more than 12 million people have prostrated themselves in front of his coffin at the Grand Palace, where Bhumibol has remained before the cremation.