Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(80th St, 24/25; foreigner K5000; 9.30am-4.30pm Tue-Sat)
This dowdy, poorly lit three-
room collection displays archaeological finds, buddhas and a bullock cart. It's
ludicrously overpriced.
Greater Mandalay
Mahamuni Paya
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
(83rd St; complex 24hr, museum sections 8am-5pm)
Every day, thousands of col-
ourfully dressed faithful venerate Mahamuni's 13ft-tall
seated Buddha
, a nationally cel-
ebrated image that's popularly believed to be some 2000 years old. Centuries of votary
gold leaf applied by male devotees (women may only watch) has left the figure knobbly
with a 6-inch layer of pure gold… except on his radiantly gleaming face, which is cere-
monially polished daily at 4am.
The statue was already ancient in 1784 when it was seized from Mrauk U by the
Burmese army of King Bodawpaya. The epic story of how it was dragged back to Man-
dalay is retold in a series of 1950s paintings in a
picture gallery
across the pagoda's in-
ner courtyard, to the northeast of the Buddha image. Bodawpaya also nabbed a collection
of Hindu-Buddhist
Khmer bronze figures
, which had already been pilfered centuries
earlier from Angkor Wat, and reached Mrauk U by a series of other historical thefts.
Many figures were reputedly melted down to make cannons for Mandalay's 1885 de-
fence against the British, but six rather battered figures remain, fondled for their good
health by superstitious devotees. They're housed in a drab concrete building near the gi-
ant gong on the north side of the northwest inner courtyard.
Near Mahamuni's outer northeast exit you'll find a merrily kitsch clock tower and the
rather odd
Maha Buddhavamsa Museum of World Buddhism
.
From the central shrine with its multi-tiered golden roof, long concrete passageways
leading in each cardinal direction are crammed with stalls selling all manner of religio-
tourist trinkets. The western passage emerges on 84th St amid fascinating
marble work-
shops
where buddha statues are expertly crafted using power tools. Mahamuni can be
conveniently visited en route to Amarapura, Inwa or Sagaing.
Shwe In Bin Kyaung
BUDDHIST MONASTERY
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(89th St, 37/38)
If you wanted a place for quiet meditation in Mandalay, you
couldn't find a better spot than this beautifully carved teak monastery. Commissioned in
1895 by a pair of wealthy Chinese jade merchants, the central building stands on tree-
