This morning was a historic one in Mandalay as descendants of the Konbaung dynasty gathered in the Mandalay Palace to commemorate the 131-year anniversary of the end of King Thibaw’s reign, the country’s last ruling monarch.
Monks chanted prayers and food was given out to members of the public who attended the ceremony.
“We were under British rule for over a century. Our main motivation behind this celebration was to ignite and help retain a sense of national pride and kinship among Myanmar people”, U Kyaw Thiha, a descent of Thibaw, told Mizzima.
Also in attendance was Prince Taw Phaya, one of Thibaw’s two surviving grandchildren. Today, Taw Phaya is in his 90s.
“When we were young we used to come and play here,” he recalled to AFP inside the palace’s audience hall.
In previous years, the family had to hold the ceremony in a nearby monastery. This was the first year that they received permission to have it as a public ceremony inside the palace.
Thibaw was overthrown by British troops in 1885, just seven years after taking the throne. He and his family were exiled to India.
The British then closed off public access to the palace.
While the royal descendants felt joy at finally being able to celebrate their ancestors inside the palace, others had more mixed feelings.
Hla Nyunt Yi, a 48-year-old vendor from western Rakhine state who attended the ceremony, told AFP, “I feel happy and sad at the same time seeing the king’s relatives here.”
The family will also hold a commemoration in India on December 16 to mark Thibaw’s death.
