Thread: Memory Lane (In my own language)

A documentary (photos not included) titled: Royal topknot removing ceremony

While the royal topknot removing ceremony was discontinued in 1932, with the end of Siam's system of absolute monarchy, it is important to preserve knowledge about this dazzling ritual for cultural, historic and purely aesthetic reasons.

This important rite of passage to adolescence was held when a prince was aged somewhere between 11 and 13 and a princess, 9 to 11 years of age.

The last royal topknot-cutting ceremony was held for Princess Sudasiri Sobha, a daughter of a Prince who was one of King Rama V's many sons, not long before the bloodless revolution of June 1932 which brought to an end many centuries of absolute monarchy.

(With King Rama VII)

The cultural significance of this long-defunct tradition, for which very elaborate and costly garments, jewelry and other apparel being specially created, was a long-standing tradition in Siam for young children of the monarch and high-ranking aristocrats to wear their hair in a topknot.

The topknot tradition in old Siamese culture is possibly derived from the custom of depicting members of the Hindu pantheon of gods with their hair drawn back into a tight coil on the top of their heads. Doing so was believed to protect these youngsters from harm.

In general, the children would keep their topknots until they turned 11 at which point it would be ritually shaved off (although the ceremony could be delayed until the child's 13th birthday). The ceremony served as a rite of passage, signifying that the person was no longer a little child, but was transitioning towards adulthood.

Members of the royal family holding the rank of phra ong chao (child or grandchild of the union between a king and a commoner) upwards referred to this topknot removing ceremony as ‘sokan’. Royals of lower ranks (from Mom Chao downwards) used the word ‘kesakan’ for the same ceremony.

When a royal child had reached the right age for this rite of passage, the royal court astrologers would be consulted and asked to set an auspicious date and time for the ceremony, during which both Buddhist and Brahmin rituals would be performed simultaneously.

The venue was usually taken place the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall within the Grand Palace. In the early years of the Rattanakosin period, the sokan/kesakan usually coincided with Sampat Chorachin, a Siamese New Year tradition observed in the fourth month of the lunar calendar. Later, topknot removing ceremonies were scheduled to coincide with Triyampawai, the Brahmin New Year celebration which revolved around the Giant Swing (Sao Ching Cha) that now stands in front of Wat Suthat.

to be continued...