A SACRED royal ritual will be performed on November 14 to fell four agarwood trees in the Kui Buri National Park for use in the royal cremation of His Majesty King Bhumibol, officials have said.
Officials at Kui Buri park yesterday started preparing ground around the four trees, which met the criteria of fragrant trees for use in the royal cremation.
The four were among 19 dead agarwood trees found inside the park. Their heights range from 11 to 15 metres with widths from 142 to 203 centimetres, in accordance with the criteria for the royal cremation.
The four trees, whose finding orders were 10, 11, 14 and 15, were selected by Chamlong Yingnuek, director of the Royal Household Bureau’s Royal Rituals Division, and Chatchai Pinngern, chief of the Brahmin rituals office, plus officials from other agencies.
Processed wood from the trees will be used for decoration of the royal crematorium at Sanam Luang and for making dok mai jun or flowers crafted from the agarwood trees.
As part of the ancient rites of royal cremation, Brahmin priests will have to perform a rite in front of the trees before they are felled. The rite will be held at 2.09pm on November 14.
There will be various kinds of offerings made during the felling rite for the selected trees.
Sacred water will be poured around the threes and a golden axe will be symbolic cast down on one of the four trees to start the felling rite.
The rite will be held around the tree No 15, and the park officials had to prepare the ground around it for officials and members of the public to observe the ritual.
The four trees will be cut down simultaneously from 2.09pm to 2.39pm in accordance with sacred timings selected by Brahmin priests.

Dimensions
Pichet Inruang, a park official, said the four trees were selected because of their proper width and height. The tree No 14 is 203cm wide and 15 metres high, while tree No 11 is 178cm wide and 11 metres high. Tree No 10 is 175cm wide and 14 metres high and tree No 15 is 142cm wide and 15 metres high. They have 4.92 cubic metres 2.77 cubic metres, 3.41 cubic metres and 2.09 cubic metres of wood respectively, he said.
The four trees have mild fragrance and they are straight, he added.
The National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department has already approved the cut and procession of the four threes and a committee of officials has been assigned to oversee the felling and processing of the trees.
Agarwood trees from the Kui Buri National Park have been used for the royal cremations of Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother and HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, the Princess Sister, as well as the cremation of the late Supreme Patriarch.