A ceremony in an ornate throne hall Thursday morning began the transfer of the remains of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej to his spectacular golden crematorium in the royal quarter of Bangkok after a year of mourning for the monarch Thais hailed as "Father."

Three separate and intensely solemn processions involving thousands of troops, a golden palanquin, a chariot and a royal gun carriage will move the royal urn representing Bhumibol's remains from the Dusit Maha Prasad Throne Hall to the crematorium. The journey along a 2-kilometer route will take at least three hours and is being watched by tens of thousands of mourners dressed all in black and broadcast live across the country.

The elaborate funeral for Bhumibol will take place over five days and began Wednesday with his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, performing Buddhist merit-making rites before chanting monks and officials in immaculate white uniforms.

Bhumibol will be cremated on Thursday evening within a golden edifice built over a year and representing mystical Mount Meru, where Buddhist and Hindu gods are believed to dwell.

Deceased Thai royals have traditionally been kept upright in elaborate urns during official mourning. But Bhumibol, who spent much of his early life in the West, opted to be put in a coffin, with the urn placed next to it for devotional purposes.

Bhumibol's death at age 88 on Oct. 13, 2016, after a reign of seven decades sparked a national outpouring of grief and a year of mourning. Millions of Thais visited the throne hall at Bangkok's Grand Palace to pay respects.

He was genuinely respected for his development projects, personal modesty and as a symbol of stability in a nation frequently rocked by political turmoil, though his influence waned in his final years.

The funeral is by design an intensely somber event, but also rich in history and cultural and spiritual tradition. Mourners are permitted to prostrate when royal processions pass.