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http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/MassTransit/giantswing.shtml
Bangkok icon into the swing of things
Work has commenced on the dismantling and removal of Bangkok's 224-year-old Giant Swing.
Once the massive, red wooden landmark is completely taken apart archaeologists will start digging the national historic site for relics.
The Giant Swing is known in Thai as Sao Ching Cha. It is located on Bamrungmuang Road in front of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration offices.
The five-metre front arch was the first piece taken down yesterday. Designed in the classic Thai style it will be sent to the Forest Industry Organisation of Thailand in Ayutthaya where it will be used as a model for a replica expected to be completed in November. A new swing will be back on site sometime in December.
The 16-metre-tall pillars and its four props will be removed later and kept at Ayutthaya. They were initially destined for the Devasathan, or Brahmin Temple. However, it proved too small to house the pieces.
Phraratchakhroo Vamathep-munee, the head priest of the Brahmins, will designate an auspicious time to move the new Giant Swing to Bangkok. A ritual will be held during its placement at the site.
The original swing was built during the reign of King Rama I. The present landmark was completed in 1920. The front arch is from the original.
The swing has been restored several times. It was once struck by lightning and was accidentally set on fire decades ago.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/10/26/national/national_30017174.php
New Giant Swing celebration to be held in August
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will organise a two-day celebration for the new Giant Swing in August, Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin said Monday.
The new swing - made from six teak trees over 100 years old and felled in Phrae - will replace the old swing that has been scarred by weather for 224 years.
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30037176
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30037176
10 July 2007
Supreme Patriarch bestows incense powder for the construction of new Giant Swing
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin discloses that the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand has bestowed the incense powder for the construction of the new Giant Swing.
Mr. Apirak says the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) officials have received the incense powder from the Supreme Patriarch on July 7th at Chula Hospital in Pathumwan district. Mr. Apirak says the incense powder is a sacred powder consisting of materials from the old Giant Swing, ancient woods, and other holy matters from nine temples in each of the76 provinces of Thailand. Venerable monks of Thailand have also imprinted symbols into the incense powder.
Reporter : RTI-Reporter03
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255007100018
18 August 2007
HM the King to attend new Giant Swing ceremony on Sept. 12th
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin (อภิรักษ์ โกษะโยธิน) says the new Giant Swing ceremony is scheduled to be held between September 11th and 13th this year, and on September 12th, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej will join the ceremony at 17:00 hours.
Mr. Apirak held a meeting with the committee responsible for renovating the Giant Swing in Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok. He says ceremonial activities are being held every morning at the Giant Swing, and they include giving food-offerings to 81 Buddhist monks, displaying the history of the Giant Swing, conducting the swing ceremony and presenting cultural shows.
On the final day of the ceremony, a seminar on the history of the Giant Swing will be held, and the winner of the Giant Swing Photo Contest will be announced. The competition has received over 3,000 photos. In addition, one million straws of holy water will be given to public members throughout the three-day event.
The Bangkok Governor says the committee has coordinated with the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary and the Metropolitan Police Bureau in providing security during the ceremony.
Reporter : RTI-Reporter03
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255008180013
Their Majesties to preside over the renovated Giant Swing celebration
Their Majesties the King and the Queen will preside over an official ceremony to celebrate the renovated Giant Swing this Wednesday.
Held in lines with Brahmin and Buddhist traditions, the ceremony will begin at 5 pm and will be broadcast on TV.
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30048310
King, Queen to preside at Giant Swing ceremony
Published on September 10, 2007
Their Majesties the King and the Queen will preside over an official ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate the renovation of the Giant Swing.
Held in line with Brahmin and Buddhist traditions, the ceremony will begin at 5pm and will be broadcast on TV. [Mod: this Wednesday, September 12]
In the ceremony, Their Majesties will pay respects to a Buddha statue at the Giant Swing and light incense candles before assigning a Brahmin priest chief to bring lit offerings to pay homage to Hindu gods at the nearby Devasathan Brahmin Temple. After that, Their Majesties will sprinkle holy water on the Giant Swing and graciously grant pink rayon that will be tied around the iconic structure.
Following the ceremony, Their Majesties will visit a nearby exhibition about the Giant Swing's history.
"The renovation of the Giant Swing has been completed in this very auspicious year when His Majesty is celebrating his 80th birthday anniversary," Deputy Bangkok City Clerk Ratthapol Meethanathavorn said.
He said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration would present His Majesty with nine gold Phra Si Sakayamuni statues, nine silver Phra Si Sakayamuni statues, a set of nine Phra Sao Chingcha statues and a statue of Trimurti (Hindu Trinity) on this occasion.
"We will also present His Majesty with a model of the Giant Swing," he said.
The model is scaled down to 1:25 of the actual structure's size but it is made of gold teakwood from the same trees that were used to make the Giant Swing.
The new poles for the Giant Swing came from Phrae and they are over 100 years old.
Ratthapol said the three-day celebrations for the renovated Giant Swing would begin tomorrow with a ceremony to declare Bangkok and Phrae sister cities after Phrae had given six gold teak trees to Bangkok for the renovation of the Giant Swing.
Then, winners of Amazing Giant Swing Photo Contest will receive awards at a presentation ceremony. Other activities include tram tours around inner Bangkok [http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=2726] and rare performances by Thai orchestras.
On Wednesday night, many national artists will perform for classical Thai dramas. After that, outstanding dances will be on show.
On Thursday, tram tours will be available from 10am to 4pm. Interesting performances will be staged between 6pm and 9pm.
During the three-day celebrations, professional photographers will set up a studio for people to have their photos taken with the Giant Swing in the background between 4pm and 9pm.
Donations from the services will go to the Giant Swing Fund, which will provide money for activities relating to the iconic structure.
Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/10/national/national_30048370.php
Also featured frontpage today:
http://www.2bangkok.com
The following link has two videos:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/12/national/national_30048707.php
Royal Brahmin ceremony for the Giant Swing
Watch the video clips of the Royal Bramin ceremony for the inauguration of the Giant Swing.
Royal Brahmin ceremony to commemorate inauguration of the Giant Swing started Wednesday morning at the plaza of the City Hall.
The morning ceremony was supervised by Chief Royal Brahmin Phrarajakhru Varma Dhepmuni who said the details of the sacred procedures follow those taken when the Giant Swing was first built during the reign of King Rama I more than 200 years ago.
"The most important part of the ceremony comes when HM the King sprinkles holy water on the two new Giant Swing pillars. This symbolises peaceful living and the well-being of the people," he said.
..........
King, Queen to attend Giant Swing inauguration
(BangkokPost.com) - Their Majesties the King and Queen will preside over an inauguration ceremony of the new Giant Swing outside Wat Suthat at 5pm on Wednesday in what will be the beginning of a three-day celebration.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) began the restoration project in 2003 as the old structure showed signs of wear. The city found the Giant Swing's condition to be beyond repair and a panel responsible for the restoration project decided to replace all of it.
Altogether six gold teak trees, more than 20 metres tall, were brought from three forest reserves in teak-rich Phrae province for the project in May last year with permission from local administration bodies and local communities.
According to forestry officials, each tree was nearly 200 years old.
The tree trunks were processed by a wood-working firm in Ayutthaya province. The work was completed and brought to Bangkok for installation late last year.The original swing has been refurbished several times. A fire which damaged the Giant Swing in 1947 prompted the government to consider demolishing the structure. However, the plan was rejected by the public. The last major work was done on the swing in 1959.
The Fine Arts Department registered the Giant Swing as a national heritage item, on Nov 22, 1949. The legs of the swing were last changed in 1972. The old Giant Swing that was removed from the site last year is now kept at the nearby Devesatan Shrine.
The BMA said the new Giant Swing, if well-maintained, should last 100 years.
May expire soon:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=121548
12 September 2007
BMA to arrange celebration of new Giant Swing
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin (อภิรักษ์ โกษะโยธิน) reports that the celebration of the new Giant Swing is scheduled to take place three days from September 11th – 13th in front of the Bangkok City Hall. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) invites people to welcome Their Majesties the King and Queen who will preside over the celebration today at 17.00 hrs.
The governor encourages people to wear yellow t-shirts to show their allegiance to the Thai monarchy.
The ceremony to celebrate the Giant Swing on September 12th will begin at 07.00 hrs. BMA will arrange a food offering ceremony to monks on their alms round, followed by Brahman rituals.
From 18.00 – 22.00 hrs of the three days, there will be performances by national artists from the Fine Arts Department.
Reporter : RTI-Reporter05
http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255009120002
Newscasters on one of the Thai TV stations tonight were sporting a 'Giant Swing' Clock on their newsdesk. One wonders if Giant Swing knicky-knacky-noos are going to surplant the Jatukham fad for a while:
Sea of yellow for King at Giant Swing
Published on September 13, 2007
His Majesty the King yesterday presided over the official inauguration of the refurbished Giant Swing.
The iconic structure has stood in the capital since 1784.
Cries of "Long Live Their Majesties and Her Royal Highness" resounded around the vicinity of the Giant Swing as His Majesty, HM Queen Sirikit and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn arrived for the ceremony at around 5pm.
Thousands of yellow-clad people had waited in the area since early afternoon. Yellow is the colour associated with His Majesty's birthday.
Millions of Thais across the country regularly don yellow shirts to declare their loyalty to the beloved monarch, who turns 80 this year.
Arriving at the Giant Swing, His Majesty proceeded to a pavilion to pay respects to a Buddha statue. He then lit candles and incense sticks before assigning the chief Brahmin priest of Devasatan Temple, Phra Raja Gura Vamadevamuni, to pay homage to sacred statues at the temple with lit offerings. The Devasatan Temple is located close to the Giant Swing.
According to Phra Raja Gura Vamadevamuni, HM King Phraphutthayotfa Chulalok the Great (King Rama I) had the Giant Swing erected to remind his people about being cautious.
In Brahmin belief, after the god Brahma created the earth, he invited the god Shiva to test its strength. The test involved two big mountains, which are represented by the two poles of the Giant Swing.
The Giant Swing is also a key part of the Triyampavai-Tripavai ceremony - including the swinging ritual - which depicts a legend about how the god created the world.
The ancient Brahmin belief recommended that this ceremony be held during the establishment of Bangkok as the capital.
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin, who chaired the committee to renovate the Giant Swing, said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had to find new poles for the structure because the old ones were too damaged to be restored to full strength.
Six gold teak logs were supplied from Phrae province for the purpose.
His Majesty sprinkled holy water on the refurbished Swing and pink rayon bands were tied around it. He then presented offerings to monks and poured ceremonial water.
Apirak, on behalf of the BMA, presented His Majesty with nine gold Phra Si Sakayamuni statues, nine silver Phra Si Sakayamuni statues, a set of nine Phra Sao Ching Cha statues, a statue of the Trimurti (the Hindu Trinity) and a scale 1:25 model of the Giant Swing.
The model is made of gold teakwood from the same trees that were used in the renovation of the Swing.
Later, His Majesty visited a nearby exhibition about the Giant Swing. At around 6pm, Their Majesties the King and the Queen and the princess returned to the palace.
Apirak later quoted His Majesty as saying, "So many people showed up … The weather is nice. There is no rain".
Apirak said His Majesty also recounted that he had witnessed the Swing ritual before and had asked when it was discontinued.
Asked by reporters whether the Swing ritual would be resumed, Apirak said, "We will leave this to the chief Brahmin priest to decide".
After the official ceremony ended, people crowded around the Giant Swing to have their pictures taken.
Throughout the neighbourhood, a variety of Giant Swing models were on sale with prices ranging from Bt390 to Bt5,999. The priciest models contained wood from the Swing's old poles.
Kupluthai Pungkanon,
Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/13/headlines/headlines_30048787.php
Is this really such a good idea? Does this provide us with genetic diversity, for example? Are we going to end up with a bunch of golden teak trees that the usual cast of get-rich-quick gonads will want to chop down whenever someone's back is conveniently turned in order to make sacred souvenirs for the gullible spendaholic masses?
BIOTEC clones Giant Swing teak
The DNA signature of the teak logs that have been used to make the new Giant Swing has been successfully extracted and will be used to grow a million teak trees to be distributed for free to the public, a senior National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) researcher said Wednesday.
Dr Somwong Trakoolrung said the next step was growing of tissue culture from the DNA to make the wood texture of all cloned teak trees identical to one of the six logs in the Giant Swing.
The one million trees will be grown over the next four years, with the first 200,000 ready for distribution in the first two years.
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30048716cast
mdechgan
13-09-07, 11:08 AM
It's great that they kept the swing for various reasons.
But I was not happy when they had to fell 6 rare gold teak trees that were almost as old as the swing itself. Like 200 years old.
They could have used other more common trees since they eventually painted the swing red.
Wisarut
13-09-07, 12:30 PM
Well, that Giant Swing has to be constructed from golden Teak since it is termite resistance ...
Because of this, there is a ceremony before felling 6 golden teaks to make giant swing and then the replanting the budding golden teak trees to replace the old one. The budding golden teak trees come from the old trees through the cell culturaling ....
His Majesty also asked BIOTEC to prepare 1,000,000 budding golden teak trees to be planted in Chitladda Palace and virtually all corners of Thailand suitable to grow golden teak trees :eek:
His Majesty asked BMA Governor if it is possible to revive the Brahmin ceremony to playing swing ... after being terminated in 1934.
REF:
http://www.manager.co.th/Daily/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9500000108081
http://www.manager.co.th/QOL/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9500000107894
http://www.manager.co.th/QOL/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9500000108008
http://www.manager.co.th/QOL/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9500000107675
mdechgan
13-09-07, 03:23 PM
I heard that the swinging festival was very dangerous and many died.
I saw on a television show once that said it was used to punish criminals once where they were forced on the swing only to fall from 25 meters.
Wisarut
13-09-07, 04:17 PM
I heard that the swinging festival was very dangerous and many died.
I saw on a television show once that said it was used to punish criminals once where they were forced on the swing only to fall from 25 meters.
Khun Mdechgan, that TV Commentator seems to know NOTHING about the swing ceremoney ... even though I admitted that swigning festival was quite dangerous .....
Triyamprawai was held on the 6th waxing day to the 6th wanign day of the 2nd month of lunar calender even though it was held in the 1st month of lunar calender durign Ayuthaya period
More abotu Trityamprawai (Swignkign ceremony) can be seen here:
http://www.komchadluek.net/column/pra/2006/01/06/01.php
http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%98%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%95%E0%B 8%A3%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%9B% E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2
http://www.heritage.thaigov.net/religion/others/brahminism3.htm
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