 A contemporaneous painting of the coronation depicts the king and queen seated in the pavilion, surrounded by a retinue of Brahmins. | |
| Native name | မင်းတုန်းမင်း ရာဇာဘိသေက မုဒ္ဓါဘိသိက် ခံယူတော်မူပုံ |
|---|---|
| English name | Rājābhiseka Muddhābhisik (consecration) ceremony of Mindon Min |
| Date | 14 May 1857 |
| Venue | Mandalay Palace |
| Location | Mandalay, Burma |
| Participants | |
The coronation (Rajabhiseka) of Mindon Min and Setkya Dewi as king and queen of the Konbaung Kingdom took place at Mandalay Palace on 14 May 1857.[1]
During the reign of the king's half brother Pagan Min, the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852 ended with the annexation of Lower Burma by the British Empire.[2] Mindon Min and his younger brother Kanaung Min overthrew Pagan Min,[3] and Mindon Min ascended the throne on 18 February 1853.[4]
Similar to other southeast Asian traditions, the coronation ceremony was a mix of Hindu and Buddhist cultures in which Punna (Brahmins)[5] played significant roles, as Hindu texts provide guidelines for such social rituals and political ceremonies, while Buddhist texts do not.[6][note 1]
Following ancient customs similar to the coronations of the kings before him,[7] during the service, Mindon Min bathed, took an oath, and was anointed with holy water, invested with regalia, and crowned King of Burma. The oath included instructions on what to do or not to do for the benefit of his people and warned him that if he failed to oblige, he might suffer certain punishments.[8]
The coronation was private and attended by royal members and staff only, and Konbaung Set Yazawin shows no evidence survived to indicate attendance by foreign diplomats.[9]
- ^ Yi Yi 1982, p. 136.
- ^ Myint-U 2001, p. 106.
- ^ Myint-U 2001, pp. 105–106.
- ^ Beck, Sanderson. "Burma, Malaya and Siam 1800–1950". Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 160.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 174.
- ^ Hpo Hlaing 2004, p. 59.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 175.
- ^ Maung Maung Tin 2004, pp. 273–274.
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