Royal Funeral Of Late Thailand King Bhumibol Adulyadej: Explainer

Hundreds of thousands of Thais gathered at the streets of Bangkok on Thursday to pay their last respects to their beloved late leader, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The 70-year-old late king was the country's ruling monarch and was credited with bringing peace and prosperity to his people in Thailand; hence the Southeast Asian country spent 12 months in mourning.

The funeral of the late king is worth $90 million and is the final act of devotion to the "father" of the nation who died Oct. 13, 2016, according to South China Morning Post (SCMP).

For the past one year, the late king's body lay in a coffin blessed by chanting Buddhist monks. When people visited the Grand Palace during guided visits in the past one year, more than 12 million people have already prostrated themselves on the floor in front of the king's coffin and urn, said officials at the palace, reports said.

Many buildings are draped in yellow marigolds, while mourners are dressed in black to show their respect.

The five-day funeral ceremony officially started Wednesday with a merit-making ceremony which is a Buddhist rite in the Grand Palace. Thursday's ceremony began with a series of rites in the royal palace ahead of the procession, BBC reported.

The cremation complex has a 50-meter high funeral pyre at the center and the pyre symbolizes Mount Meru, the allegorical center of the universe in Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain cosmology.

The structure which is painted in gold is adorned with sculptures of animals, deities, and mythical creatures from Buddhist and Hindu lore.

The sprawling cremation site took almost a year to be made. It is studded with references to the king's welfare projects that included a small rice field and an irrigation wheel, SCMP reported.

Adulyadej's body has been kept in a separate coffin to the symbolic Royal Urn which will be lifted up a ramp on a golden chariot to the pyre. The separate coffin and the urn will be cremated after which the king's soul shall pass into the afterlife, as the Buddhists beliefs suggest.

The funeral which began Wednesday was led by the king's only son King Maha Vajiralongkorn, known as Rama X. His father was Rama IX of the Chakri dynasty.

A strict dress code including for those in the press has been put in place for the ceremony. Male journalists must wear a matching black suit with a plain white long-sleeved shirt, a black necktie, a black mourning armband, a black belt, and black leather shoes, according to the media guide.

"They should have short hair and should not have a beard or mustache, or wear earrings," the guide said, according to Newsweek.

Female journalists must ensure that their skirts reach below their knees and that they also wear beige-colored stockings. "Caps, hats and dark eyeglasses, jeans and sports shoes" are prohibited at the cremation site. Those with "unnatural hair color" are also prohibited to come.