The Royal Ploughing Ceremony

The rice planting season usually begins in April or May with the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Bangkok, presided over by His Majesty the King. This ceremony, designed to give an auspicious beginning to the new planting season, originally was a pure Brahmanic rite. Its purpose is to encourage the power and happiness.

     The day for Royal Ploghing Ceremony therefore cannot be set in a certain date. However, it is normally in May. The reason that it is required to be in the sixth month is that it is the beginning of raining season. This time is a good time for farmers to start working on their farm, which is an important work of Thai society for a very long time.

     After the royal astrologer had already calculated and got the auspicious day for the Royal Ploughing Ceremony, The Bureau of the Royal Households would mark the calculated date into the royal calendar that the king annually gives to his people. The calendar clearly states the date for both rites of the ceremony. The Royal Ploughing ceremony day is announced by the cabinet as a Public holiday but the national flag is raised as it is in usual working days.

     The Annual Ploughing Ceremony is also an occasion when His Majesty the King graciously presents awards and certificates to outstanding farmers from each region, whose fields produced the highest yields during the previous year.

 One day before the Annual Ploughing Ceremony, His Majesty the King pours lustral water on the forehead of Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Cooperatives in his capacity as Phraya Raekna, Lord of the Ploughing Ceremony. Phraya Raekna, with the assistance of four celestial maidens and a pair of sacred oxen, will lead the annual traditional Ploughing Ceremony at Sanam Luang this morning, to mark the beginning of the rice-planting season. Before the ceremony, Phraya Raekna would have to choose between a four-keup-long, five-kueb-long and six-kueb-long cloth. From the length of the cloth chosen by the Phraya Raekna, it was predicted that there would be plenty of water this year, highland rice crops would be bountiful while lowland rice crops would sustain some damage. 
     During the ceremony, the oxen, Rung and Roj, would be given seven foods and drink, i.e. grass, rice, corn, beans, sesame, liquor and water to choose from. 
     After the ceremony ends, the crowds scramble for the seeds sown by the Ploughing Lord as the seeds are regarded as things that will bring the owners wealth and good luck. The farmers will mix the seeds with their own rice to ensure a good crop in the coming year.

Thanks to : http://www.arts.kmutnb.ac.th