King Rama IX, Bhumipon Adunyadet, passed away on 13 October 2016, at the age of 88, and has been the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history (fig.), serving for 70 years and 126 days.

At his funeral, his successor King Maha Vajiralongkorn participated in a rite in which his father’s ashes were washed and the charred bones were placed on a white cloth, laid out in the figure of a man, prior to placing them as relics in reliquary urns.