An Analytical Study of the Duties of Princess Dararasami, the Royal Consort, towards Buddhism in Lanna

Abstract

This research article aimed to: 1) study of Princess Dara Rasmi, Princess Consort biography 2) study her royal activities towards Buddhism in Lanna, 3) analyze her royal activities towards Buddhism in Lanna. This is a documentary research by collecting data from related documents and interviews then organizing the data into 3 groups, of her royal activities related to 1) religious places and objects, 2) religious ceremonies, and 3) religious persons.

The research found that:

1. She was the daughter of Phra Chao Inthawichayanon, the king of Chiang Mai. She entered the royal service in Bangkok as a royal consort of King Chulalongkorn. When her husband passed away, she returned to Chiang Mai permanently.
2. There were many royal duties related to Buddhism in Lanna. The most prominent were religious ceremonies, followed by religious places and religious objects. As for religious persons, there were not many, but they took over the patronage of various temples as their ancestors had done before.
3. When analyzed in the overall picture, it was found that Her Majesty supported Buddhism in Lanna according to the rights of the ruling class, namely being the royal consort of the King and having a lineage of the ruler of Chiang Mai, including being a person who had faith in Buddhism, therefore behaving as a good Buddhist in order to be a good example.