Mrigadayavan Palace (, ) is a former residence of King Vajiravudh, or Rama VI, who ruled Siam from 1910 to 1925. It is in Cha-am in Phetchaburi Province, Thailand. King Vajiravudh visited the palace twice during his reign. His first visit was during the summer of 1924 when he stayed for three months. His second visit lasted two months in the summer of 1925, after which he died. The palace is now a property of the Crown Property Bureau and is under the management of The Foundation of Mrigadayavan Palace under the patronage of Princess Bejaratana (FMP), the only daughter of Vajiravudh.
History
The palace was commissioned by King Vajiravudh to serve as a holiday villa. The king drafted the designs for the villa, which consists of sixteen teak buildings raised on concrete pillars and linked together by a series of walkways. Construction took place during 1923–1924, overseen by Italian architect, Ercole Manfredi.
Around the year 1917, because King Vajiravudh had suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, his physician, Phraya Phaet Phongsavisuttatibhadi, suggested that he sojourn in a warm and airy seaside climate. Mrigadayavan Palace was thus constructed in 1923. At first, there were three choices of sites for building the summer palace. The first one was in Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, which was already a popular beach destination at that time. However, since the customary law prohibited the general public from entering areas where the king resided, King Vajiravudh decided to avoid troubling his people and considered alternative locations for a summer palace. He subsequently commanded the Royal Thai Navy to research appropriate sites. The beach at Bang Thalu in Phetchaburi was its first choice. This led to the construction of a summer palace in 1917 at Bang Thalu. The adjoining beach area was renamed Chao Samran Beach, which means 'the beach of joy'.
The king stayed at the new palace every summer between 1918 and 1923. Apart from caring for his health, he also permitted the training of the Phetchaburi Wild Tiger Corps inside the palace compound. Later on, this training ground became known as Had Chao.
Yearly visits gradually became the norm for the royal court. Several inconveniences were encountered. First of all, there was a lack of fresh water as indicated in the royal log book on a shortage of water during one summer. Secondly, it was inconvenient to travel between Chao Samran beach and Phetchaburi town. Only 15 kilometres distant, it took around five hours to get to the beach. Last, as Chao Samran beach was adjacent to a fishing village, flies were an ever present nuisance. King Vajiravudh decided to move his seaside residence to a new location.
Finally, a secluded beach at Huai Sai Nua was found. It was between Chao Samran Beach and Hua Hin. The site was not only close to the train station, permitting easy access from the capital, but had abundant water.
King Vajiravud appointed Ercole Manfredi, an Italian architect, who at the time was employed by the Ministry of Public Works, as the chief architect to complete the architectural plan based on the king's preliminary sketch, and assigned Chao Phraya Yommaraj (Pan Sukhum), Minister of Interior, to supervise construction. Existing residential edifices and structures at Chao Samran Beach were moved to the new site while the royal residence was being built. The construction started in 1923 and was completed in late-1924.
The area was called Huai Sai, which means 'hog deer's stream', due to the number of hog deer found in this area. King Vajiravudh, therefore, named his new summer palace "Mrigadayavan". The word "Mrigadayavan" is auspicious, as in "Isipatana Mrigadayavan", the deer park in India where Buddha delivered his first sermon. As well as naming the new palace, King Vajiravudh also sought to preserve the area's wildlife. On 12 May 1924, he issued a proclamation declaring the Huai Sai area a wildlife refuge. King Vajiravudh was frugal with the construction of Mrigadayavan Palace. He wanted this seaside palace to be a humble royal residence as compared with other palaces. The palace design was to be simple, yet elegant, in harmony with the tropical seaside climate.
Gallery
Buildings Mrigadayavan Palace includes three groups of buildings with 16 small buildings. They were connected to each other by a long covered wooden corridor. The overall length of the palace is 399 metres. Twenty-two staircases allow access to the private quarters. The palace is aligned parallel to the sea with a long corridor leading towards bathing pavilions at each end to allow sea breezes during the day and mountain breeze at night.
The palace's three groups of buildings are:
a) Samosorn Sevakamart
b) Samutphiman Group of Buildings (Men's Quarters)
c) Pisansakorn Group of Buildings (Ladies’ Quarters)
Samosorn Sevakamart Samosorn Sevakamart is at the north end of the palace. Its name foretells the function of the building. Samosorn means 'assembly', and sevakamart means 'royal officials'. King Vajiravudh used it as a meeting hall with his officials, guest reception room, ritual room, theatre, including a badminton court.
This open, high-ceilinged hall is rectangular. The ceiling of is decorated with painted coffers and large chandeliers. As this hall frequently served as a theatre, there are dressing rooms at each corner of the hall.
There is a circular staircase in the northern rooms, which was used by actors when this hall was converted into a theatre. The audience would face to the north and the ladies of the court were seated along the east and west balconies of the upper floor. King Vajiravudh usually rehearsed his plays in this hall after dinner. Nevertheless, when not performing himself, he would watch performances of his cousins and courtiers from the south balcony. The king also gave performances of his own works to the general public at Mrigadayavan Palace.
Phra Ruang was performed on 10 June 1924 as part of a birthday celebration for Queen Indrasakdisaji. King Vajiravudh played the role of Nai Mun Puenyao, a commoner, and Phranang Chao Suvadhana, who at that time Miss Kruakaew Abhayavongse, performed as Nang Chandra, the maid who had a dialogue with Nai Mun Puenyao. Vivahaphrasamudra, a Western-style operetta, was performed on 23–25 May 1925. King Vajiravudh performed as King Midas, his last performance.
The grand circular staircase at the entrance was used by King Vajiravudh to access his quarters. The right side of the staircases was used for going up to the second floor, while the left side was for coming down. The direction of going up and down these staircases was done clockwise following Brahmin and Buddhist beliefs to receive grace.
According to Brahmin and Buddhist beliefs, the king represents the most powerful gods- Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. Since it is believed that whatever the gods touch would create fire, carpets became a symbolic necessity for the king to walk upon. Brass peg holes used for keeping carpets stationary can be seen on the floor of the upper corridor, as well as along the stair treads, where the king walked.
King Vajiravudh used the room on the upper floor of the Samosorn Sevakamart for private audiences and to conduct royal ceremonies. Two significant merit-making ceremonies were carried out at Mrigadayavan Palace. The first one was a merit-making ceremony on the anniversary of Queen Indrasakdisaji's birthday in 1924 and the other was on the anniversary of Chao Chom Suvadhana's birthday in 1925. The king also used this audience hall to bless royal family marriages.
On the left side of the hall stands a bronze bust of King Vajiravudh, cast in 1926 by the Italian sculptor, Silpa Bhirasri (Corrado Feroci). Behind the bust bears the legend, "Feroci 1926".
Samutphiman buildings (men's quarters) Next to the Audience Hall is Samutphiman Quarter, which was the king's private quarters. Only the king and his close officials were allowed in this area. The name Samutphiman literally means 'home in the ocean', in which samut means 'ocean', and phiman means 'home'. It also refers to the home of Vishnu, the Preserver, who rests on the Naga. This accords with the religious belief that the king is Vishnu's representation on earth.
There are seven buildings in the Samutphiman quarter. They are:
The Second Samutphiman Royal Residence: This building served as Vajiravudh's private residence. It consists of a bedchamber, a bathroom, a dressing room, and a study room. Royal Bathroom: The royal bathroom is in Western-style. It was furnished with facilities and items from King Vajiravudah's period and all came from Europe. The floor is Italian marble that originally had more vivid colour. However, due to recent conservation work, the colour of the marble has slightly changed. The Victorian bathtub has its own shower and the bidet has three levels of water strength. Fresh water was stored and distributed via a hexagonal concrete tank southwest of the palace. Ten wells supplied fresh water. Royal Dressing Room: After bathing, the king would come to his dressing room where his pages would have set out his clothes. On display in the dressing room are some of the king's clothes such as his dinner jacket, fisherman's shirt, traditional trousers, and handkerchiefs. King Vajiravudh used a different coloured handkerchief every day. Yellow was for Monday, for example, and pink for Tuesday. The handkerchiefs on display are originals and belong to Princess Bejaratana, King Vajiravudh's only child. The princess offered these items to the Marigadayavan Palace Foundation for exhibition purposes. During his reign, King Vajiravudh initiated the dressing pattern of the ladies of the courts. Women were to wear clothes according to the colour of each day, as of yellow for Monday, pink for Tuesday, green for Wednesday, orange for Thursday, blue for Friday, purple for Saturday, and red for Sunday. Royal Bed Chamber: The bedroom has a four-poster bed with a mosquito net covering it. Next to the bed is a cabinet that houses a Buddha in Naga Prok posture (the Buddha protected by the mythical serpent). This posture of Buddha statue is for those who were born on Saturday, which was the day King Vajiravudh was born. A candlestick was also available as night lamps during that period, if generators did not work. Royal Study: The display in King Vajiravuh's study is simple and straightforward. His desk and chair face to the sea, to the east. The king preferred working at night and usually retired to bed at three or four in the morning, therefore, a mosquito net would also provide cover above the desk and chair while he was working. The king preferred using sharp flat carpenter pencils when writing his plays. As for pens, he used original spring ballpoint pens with black or red ink. King Vajiravudah also preferred lined loose paper pads that he would send for binding after he finished his writings. He also kept a diary. The letter paper box with the royal monogram is made of dark purple fabric, which is the colour of Saturday – the King’s birthday. On the box there is also an embroidered Garuda (a mythical bird), an ancient symbol of Thai kings. This symbol originates from the Hindu belief that the king is the incarnation of Vishnu.