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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