Statue in Ayutthaya, in honour of King Naresuan the Great (fig.), who in 1593 defeated the Burmese Crown Prince in Nong Sarai, in a duel fought on war elephants (fig.). He is depicted performing a libation ritual known as kruad nahm, in which he poured water onto the ground from a pitcher, as a symbolic proclamation of the freedom the country had gained from Burma after the latter's defeat in the duel. The King proclaimed that Siamese sovereignty would be lasting, just as the water couldn't return to the pitcher once it was poured out, i.e. set free (fig.).

See also TRAVEL PICTURES.

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