Bangkok, Siam (Thailand): the funeral meru for the cremation of King Pinklao (second king), January 1866. Photograph by John Thomson, 1866.

King Pinklao was the full younger brother of King Mongkut. He was crowned as the Second King on the coronation day. He died on 7 January 1865, but the construction of the present meru north of the Grand Palace in Bangkok had taken a full year. In Thai cosmology the meru is a representation of Mount Meru, the centre of the universe, from which the king had descended to rule, and to which he would now return. The king's urn was housed inside. The photograph shows the main meru on the left with an open space in front of it demarcated by poles for parasols and fireworks. Thomson's negative number 404 shows the same structure. The shadowy tracks of figures in movement are visible. Perhaps slightly later in the preparations for the cremation. For further details see Paisarn Piemmettawat, loc. cit.