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The old Burmese capital, Mandalay is where the last king of Myanmar, Thibaw, held court, before the British exiled him to India in 1885. Our stay here was once again a beautiful array of temples, pagodas and monasteries. We visited the Shwenandaw Kyaung/Golden Palace Monastery a fine teak monastery temple with intricate wood panels and Kyauktawgyi Paya, a 19
thcentury temple. At the heart of this temple is a 900 tonne Buddha that is carved from a single piece of marble. It apparently took 10 000 men 13 days to transport it from a canal to its present location for the dedication in 1865 by King Mindon.
The most important Buddhist Temple in Mandalay is the Mahamuni Paya an enormous complex which is home to a 13ft high seated Buddha believed to be 2 000 years old. Only men are allowed to enter the shrine of this Buddha and apply gold leaf to the torso. Female devotees kneel close by, but get only a glimpse of the crowned image directly from a distance or on a TV monitor. The figure is now entirely covered with gold leaf which is an estimated 6 inch layer; all except for the face which is
lovingly polished each day at 4am before devotees arrive for morning meditation.
Shwe In Bin Kyaung is a place for quiet meditation. No vendors are present here to distract from the beauty of this 1895 teak monastery commissioned by wealthy Chinese jade merchants. The central structure stands on tree-trunk poles and the interior has soaring high balustrades and roof cornices covered in detailed engravings. Besides the temples and monasteries we managed to visit local workshops of gold pounders, those that make the gold leaf, the stone carvers district where the countless images of buddhas are made in all different sizes and poses and the Jade Market where we watched as the jade was cut, polished and traded or sold.
U Bein’s Bridge is the world’s longest teak footbridge and of course,I did cross it. It curves gently 1 300yds across a now shallow Taugthaman Lake and is one of Myanmar’s most photographed sites. In the dry season the bridge seems surprisingly high for the shallow waters of the lake but during the summer the lake rises several feet and the water rises and reaches just below the floor planks. I watched the serene and mystical sunset in the
company of a monk I met as I strolled across this epic bridge.
Mandalay Hill was another vantage point from where I watched the sunset. The hill is 760ft high and from here one can see how flat Mandalay is. In the evening, many monks converge here to practice their English with foreigners. It is from this hill according to legend, that Buddha with his disciple Ananda climbed the hill and prophesised that in the 2400
th year of his faith, a great city would be founded below the hill. By the calendar, the 2400
th year was 1857 the year that King Mindon did in fact decree the capital’s move from Amarapura to Mandalay.
From Mandalay, we boarded a local fisherman boat for Mingun which is located across the Ayeyarwady River. We enjoyed a relaxing, and surprisingly cool and breezy cruise along the river watching the local villagers way of life in hamlets of bamboo woven houses. King Bodawpaya had an obsession with biggest is best (I wonder why?) hence Mingun is home to the world’s largest unfinished pagoda, as well as a gigantic bronze bell. Started in 1790, the Mingun Paya would have been the world’s largest pagoda
had construction not been interupted due to the death of King Bodawpaya in 1819. What remains is only the bottom third; it is still an enormous structure which is often described as the world’s largest pile of bricks. There are also several deeply cut cracks caused by an 1838 earthquake and across the road are the remnants of two huge brick chinthe (half-lion, half-dragon guardians) that were intended to guard the pagoda. Climbing to the top wasn’t a hardship due to the height or the scorching heat at 9am in the morning but because we had to go up barefoot which was very painful for my delicate feet. Thankfully, there were many young boys eager to assist a lady in distress and I happily accepted their help to climb brick steps so that I could summit yet another tall structure. The reward was great once again as I looked across the hazy calmness of the Ayeyarwady River to Mandalay.
Continuing with the bigger is better theme, Bodawpaya commissioned a gigantic bronze bell. It weighs 90 tonnes and is 13ft high and over 16ft across at the lip making it the world’s largest uncracked bell (Moscow has a bigger one
but it’s split and not hung) {I can hear you laughing Kevin and am eager for your comeback!}. I managed to ring the bell for good luck and actually was able to stand under it and take a few photos with some curious and fun loving monks too.
The Kyauktawgyi Paya (world’s biggest book) is housed in a 19
th century gold and gilt stupa. The text is inscribed on 729 marble slabs; each slab is stored in its own stupa and together represent the 15 book of the Tripitaka. The creation of the world’s largest book took 200 editorial staff and over 2 400 monks commissioned by King Mindon to work non-stop for 6 months to complete the book.
Far more memorable than all of the Buddhas and temples, was an invitation we received through friends of our tour leader, Sui. Our group was invited to participate in a Novice Monk Initiation Ceremony. There were over ten boys who were being initiated on that day and the proud family members were dressed in their finest and we the travellers in our grubbiest and sweatiest clothers. Never the less, we were welcomed as honoured guests, given seats up close
and invited to share a meal. This was a such a special occasion and will remain one of my fondest memories of Myanmar. The warmth of the people is incomparable.
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Kevin
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"On The Road to Mandalay"
Title of an old "Bob Hope/Bing Crosby" movie. Now you've done the sequel with dongs of epic proportions! Anything that is hung with a 16 ft. lip has got to be good in my books! The fact that you could squeeze yourself into such enormity is a testament to your talents! Everything in this stretch of your journey sounds so massive. No wonder you can't stop writing about it! Bigger really is better! I guess once people have been "Mandalay-ed" there is no going back!