The King Father passed early morning of the 15th and will not return to Cambodia until later today, leaving a two day gap for the country to absorb the news and prepare for his return.
Sihanouk died on Cambodia's Pchum Ben holiday, the Cambodian Ancestors Celebration or Celebration of the Dead. As one of the most important holidays of the Khmer year, most Cambodians were off work and many traveling to the provinces to be with family. Phnom Penh was half empty when the news of Sihanouk's death was announced. That morning all Cambodian television stations switched to non-stop news of Sihanouk. The Cambodia Daily had posted a lovely obituary by late morning. Cambodia's other English language paper, The Phnom Penh Post, was conspicuously silent, not even posting news of the Sihanouk's death until late in the day. Flags across the country were lowered to half-staff and foreign flags removed from the Phnom Penh riverfront. Conversation of the day everywhere in Cambodia turned to Sihanouk. "Did you hear the news..."
I walked to the Royal Palace midday. The city was very quiet for Pchum Ben. Traffic was light. As I passed the Independence Monument I noticed a couple of other photographers and then passing cars slowing to take photos of the lowered flag. I walked past the King Father's birthplace - a modest villa on Sihanouk Blvd. It too was quiet. Arriving at the Palace, there were very few people. A few lone mourners and others lingering about, peering in the Palace gate, sitting in front of the Pavilion, seemingly waiting, wondering what would happen next. Distracting, a noisy speedboat blasted up and down the nearby river. At about 5:00PM an organized group of mourners, wearing traditional white, many with shaven heads, gathered at the Victory Gate of the Royal Palace and held a brief funerary ceremony. Some said they were from Kampong Speu province. The group then proceeded up and down the street, chanting and praying. Their final act was to lay flowers at the Palace gate, then dispersing by 6:00PM.
On Day 2, October 16, I noticed cleaning and sprucing going on across the city and the Palace area. Construction facilities were removed from around the Independence Monument, trees were trimmed, grass cut and streets cleaned around the Royal Palace. I'm told that there were small groups of mourners at the Palace in the morning. When I got to the Palace in the afternoon there were many more people present than the previous day. Two incense urns and an offering table with Sihanouk's portrait and piled high with lotus flowers had been set up on the park sidewalk opposite the Pavilion. There were at least a few hundred people there, most of them mourners, some just milling about watching. Many people videoed and took photos with their phones and iPads. The press was thicker today, likely much thicker tomorrow. People lit candles, burned joss sticks and prayed. Some cried openly.
By sunset more offering tables and kneeling rugs had been put in place, scores of candles lined the sidewalk and the crowd had grown to more than a thousand. A truck arrived and hoisted an enormous portrait of the King Father into place, filling the empty frame on the face of the Pavilion. The crowd's attention turned to the portrait. To the 'ooos' and 'ahhs' of the onlookers the Palace lights were switched on for the first time since Sihanouk's death. A gathering formed in the street in front of the Pavilion portrait and prayers were said. As I left around 7:00PM the activities continued and there were still at least a thousand there, maybe two. Back at home, the Cambodian TV stations are playing all-Sihanouk-all-the-time, including a lot of fascinating historic newsreel, propaganda and documentary films.
The King Father will return to Cambodia today, Day 3, at 3:00PM, and the formal proceedings will begin - the first Cambodian King's funeral since the death of King Suramarit in 1960. People from the countryside should begin pouring into the city over the next few days to pay their respects. The government gave an initial prediction of 100,000 mourners. I think more.
Day 1
Vimean Ekreach (Independence Monument ) with flag at half-staff. Mid-day. October 15, 2012.
Front of the Royal Palace, early midday. A few people linger outside the Palace - a few lone mourners, some just wandering and looking. No portrait in place on the Palace face. October 15, 2012.
Royal Palace, Chanchhaya Pavilion. 4:00PM, October 15, 2012. Sun beginning to dip behind Palace. Quite warm, perhaps 32C, dry. Little visible activity. A couple of dozen people linger outside the Palace, in front of the Pavilion and near the Victory Gate - dozen mourners, sporadic tourists wandering by, some of the usual afternoon exercisers and a few journalists.
A crowd forms in front Royal Palace Victory Gate. 5:20PM, October 15, 2012.
First organized gathering of mourners. Royal Palace gate. October 15, 2012.
Gathering of mourners at Royal Palace gate, October 15, 2012.
Mourners procession on road in front of the Royal Palace. October 15, 2012.
Mourners face Royal Palace, October 15, 2012.
A final offering made at the Royal Palace gate, October 15, 2012.
Day 2
First offering table. Opposite the Royal Palace Pavilion, afternoon of October 16, 2012.
Mourner, afternoon of October 16, 2012.
Mourners at offering table, afternoon of October 16, 2012.
Park sidewalk opposite the Royal Palace, evening of October 16, 2012.
Park sidewalk opposite the Royal Palace, evening of October 16, 2012.
Portrait of King Father Sihanouk raised, Royal Palace lights turned on, evening of October 16, 2012.
. The Palace lights just turned on. To Sihanouk
Front of the Royal Palace, portrait of King Father Norodom Sihanouk in place, evening of October 16.
Throne Hall, evening of October 16, 2012.
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