PHNOM PENH: Cambodians lined the streets of Phnom Penh yesterday as the remains of former king Norodom Sihanouk were transported through the capital atop a golden float shaped like a mythological bird for his enshrinement.
Thousands of people in mourning dress turned out to bid a final farewell to the revered ex-monarch, who died of a heart attack in Beijing in October 2012 aged 89.
After chanting by 90 Buddhist monks and a 101-gun salute, two diamond-studded gold urns and one marble urn containing the remains were borne through the capital in an elaborate procession.
Members of the royal family rode in a car shaped like a three-headed dragon.
In line with Sihanouk’s wishes, the urns will be placed in a stupa in the Silver Pagoda in the royal palace alongside the remains of his favourite daughter Kantha Bopha who died at three.
The charismatic former monarch steered his country through turbulent decades of war, the murderous Khmer Rouge regime and finally peace.
Many elderly Cambodians credit him with overseeing a rare period of political stability in the 1950s and 1960s until the Khmer Rouge emerged in the 1970s. AFP
