THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Myanmar - page 386

whole day in the Mandalay Hill area alone. To the west, and at the dead centre of the city,
is the old palace compound - now largely a military zone, though many of its former royal
buildings have been reconstructed. Down in the southern part of the city you'll find the ex-
cellent Mahamuni Paya , and the teak Shwe In Bin Kaung .
The city's draws extend beyond mere tourist sights. It's one of Myanmar's most important
cultural centres, which allows for some interesting shopping opportunities - much of the na-
tion's gold leaf is walloped into submission here, while it's also the main source of Jataka
tapestries telling the life of the Buddha. The surprisingly good entertainment options in-
clude dance and puppet shows, and the famed Moustache Brothers . The culinary scene is
alsoprettydiverse,withThai,WesternandKoreancuisinetotrackdown,aswellasplentyof
excellent Shan restaurants. Then, of course, there's the wonderful array of attractions within
cycling distance of the city - plenty to do, in other words.
A RIGHT ROYAL MERRY-GO-ROUND
From the mid-fourteenth century until the British arrived some half a millennium later,
Mandalay anditssurroundingareaplayedhosttoacurioustravelling circus asthenational
capitalregularlyshiftedfromonecitytoanother.ItallfollowedtheunificationoftheSaga-
ingandPinyakingdoms;Thihathu,thePinyaking,hadmadehisbasejustafewkilometres
east of the Ayeyarwady River, but in 1364 this was moved to Inwa (then known as Ava)
by his great-grandson Thadominbaya, mastermind of the reunification. Things stayed this
way until 1555, when the city was ceded to the Taungoo dynasty after repeated attacks.
Based in Taungoo, then Bago, this dynasty soon started to crumble, and Inwa became cap-
ital again in 1599; it remained the seat of power until the death of King Mahadammayaza
in1752,whentheFrench,thenbusyingthemselvesinthearea,encouragedarebellion.The
capital of the nascent Konbaung dynasty was moved out to Shwebo , though this lasted
only eight years before its second king decided that a riverside location would be more be-
neficial - step forward Sagaing . Again, it was only a few years before the capital moved
across the river, back to Inwa; less than two decades later, in 1783, it was Amarapura 's
turn, when King Bodawpaya chose to relocate the national centre of power. After fifty
years functioning as a centre of Buddhist teachings, the capital was then shifted back to
InwabyBodawpaya'sgrandson,KingBagyidaw-troubledbyinstabilityintheeasternIn-
dian states, he viewed Inwa as a stronger base. Inwa was, however, devastated by a great
earthquake in 1838, whereupon the capital was transferred back to Amarapura; this time it
lasted only twenty years, before King Mindon received a vision showing him that the cap-
ital had to be moved north to Mandalay . This was to become Burma's final royal capital,
since shortly after occupying the country the British banished the royals to India in 1885.