We had an early flight from Bagan to Mandalay. The airport is an hour's drive out of town.
Our first stop in town was an area where they carve the marble statues. The craftsmanship was remarkable.
Polishing and putting on the finishing touches.
It took several men to unload the partial carved statues. The statues were brought to this area to have the faces carved and to be polished.
Our next stop was to visit the Mahamuni Buddha Temple. The original 1785 temple was destroyed in a fire and then rebuilt in 1884.
Buddhist devotees (and other participants) buy super thin squares of gold leaf and place them on the Buddha statue. Over the years the gold layers have grown to be 6 inches thick in places and have distorted the statue's proportions. Only males are allowed to apply the gold leaves. I borrowed a longyi to cover my short pants so that I could participate in the practice. There you are Aunt Helen!
Phyo showing us how to peel off the leaves and press them onto the Buddha.
The men supervising the ceremony were so helpful in guiding us through the process. At no time did I feel unwelcome or questioned as to why I was participating, which was purely for the experience and not for any religious enlightenment.
This lady was saying her prayers before setting up her food station to sell to visitors.
The inside of the temple was covered in gold.
It amazes me how some of the poorest countries in the world devote some many rich resources to religious worship.
Even the tile on the building pillars were made of jade.
On our way to the hotel we stopped to visit a shop where they pounded the gold to make the thin leaves to place on the Buddha.
Working with the thin gold, cutting it into small squares and placing each leaf between layers of paper.
This man was on the sidewalk making ink sketches. He would smear ink onto the paper then take a razor and a stylus pen to scrape off some of the ink making his designs. They were beautiful.
I did purchase some of his work.
After lunch and taking a short 1/2 hour break to check in to the hotel, we went to the Shwenandaw Monastery (Golden Palace Monastery). It was originally the apartment of King Mindon Min in the royal palace. His son, King Thibaw Min, had it dismantled and moved in 1878 believing it was haunted by his father's spirit. The building was reconstructed as a monastery over a 5 year period. It is known for it's teak carvings of Buddhist myths which adorn the walls and roof. It is the only remaining major structure of the original Royal Palace.
The building was covered in gold which has mostly worn away today.
The inside still has some gold covering.
Some young monk novices were there. They seemed to enjoy posing for pictures
The bell outside the building.
Next we went to Kuthodaw Pagoda. It contains the world's largest book. On the pagoda grounds there are 729 kyauksa gu ( stone caves) each containing a slab of marble inscribed with a page of text from the Tipitaka, the entire Pali Canon of Buddhism.
This scale model shows the layout.
Monks - notice that a couple of them are holding cell phones. I will discuss monk life today in a later post.
The stupa of the pagoda.
Our next adventure was to go to the top of Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset. Our transport van was to big to go up the hill so we transferred to the back of this small truck. You might have noticed in some of the pictures that these are normal modes of transportation for the local people (remember the school children riding in them).
The ride up was more fun than a roller coaster. I think the driver thought he was in a race!
At the top of the hill we took an escalator up to Sutaungpyei Pagoda. Mandalay Hill has served as a major pilgrimage site for Burmese Buddhist for nearly two centuries with its abundance of pagodas and monasteries.
The view of the surrounding area was wonderful.
There were a lot of people there to watch the sunset.
After the sunset there was a rush of people going back down and putting their shoes on.
That concludes another wonderful day in Myanmar.
No comments:
Post a Comment