The nation of Thailand a strong Buddhist nation is mourning. Its Supreme Patriach has passed into paranirvna on 24th October at the Chulalongkorn Hospital. A long line of Buddhists formed at Chulalongkorn Hospital on Friday morning waiting as early as 6am to pay final respects to His Holiness.
The public can attend the bathing rites before a picture of the Supreme Patriarch at the Manusayanak Witthayatharn Building in the compound of Wat Bowon Niwet from 1pm daily.
The Thai King has acknowledged the death of His Holiness with deep sorrow, the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement issued last night. His Majesty instructed that the Supreme Patriarch's body should lie in state at Phra Tamnak Petch at Wat Bown Niwet in Bangkok and that palace officials must wear black for 15 days starting Friday.
Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, who headed Thailand’s order of Buddhist monks for more than two decades and was known as the Supreme Patriarch, died Oct. 24 at a hospital in Bangkok. He was 100.
Doctors at Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital announced the death and said the immediate cause was septicemia, a severe blood infection.
After he was admitted to the hospital in 2002, the Supreme Patriarch was able to perform leadership duties for a time, but in 2004, a senior Buddhist monk was appointed to work on his behalf. That monk died this year, raising speculation about who the Supreme Patriarch’s successor will be.
His successor will be formally appointed by Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Thailand is the world’s most heavily Buddhist country, with more than 90 percent of its 67 million people followers of the religion. As the head of the religion, the patriarch has legal authority to oversee different sects of Buddhism.
The Supreme Patriarch promotes Buddhism and leads the Sangha Supreme Council, which oversees the country’s Buddhist monks and novices of all sects. The council’s job is to make sure monks follow Buddha’s teachings and do not violate the rules set by the council.
The Supreme Patriarch was a friend of the Dalai Lama of Tibet, who called the Thai monk “my elder brother.” The Dalai Lama paid several visits to Thailand since his first state visit in 1967, and each time, he would visit the temple where the Supreme Patriarch resided to have a discussion.
The Supreme Patriarch was born Charoen Gajavatra on Oct. 3, 1913, in Thailand’s western province of Kanchanaburi, the eldest of the three sons. He was still a boy when his father died, and he was raised by his aunt.
He became gravely ill as a boy, and his family made a promise to sacred spirits that he would become a monk if he recovered. He did, and he became a novice when he turned 14.
The future Supreme Patriarch moved to Bangkok in 1929 to a well-respected Buddhist temple to continue his religious studies.
He returned briefly to his home town to get ordained and became a monk in 1933. He was named Suvaddhano — “one who prospers well” — by the Supreme Patriarch of the time, and rose through the ranks of the monkhood. In 1956, when King Bhumibol spent 15 days as an ordained monk, the future patriarch taught and supervised him.
He served as secretary of the Supreme Patriarch who preceded him and was appointed the top Buddhist monk in 1989, when he took on the name Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara — “a person of great insight.”
