Since visiting
temples and pagodas are the main attractions in Myanmar the usual method of
giving an offering is with a gold leaf and placing it on a Buddha statue. Mandalay, as it turns out, is one of the few
places in Myanmar that makes them the old traditional way. My tour guide stopped by a workshop to show
me how they make them. Most of these
workshops are found at the intersection of 36th and 77th
streets.
The process is really not that complex and it’s
just a lot old-fashioned muscle.
Pounders, mostly younger men who I expected to be much more muscular
looking, hammer down at booklets of bamboo pages between which tiny nuggets of
gold have been placed. The resulting
foil is cut, replaced, and hammered down again for hours until it is thick as
paper. They are usually made into small
packets and each one contains 3 or 4 gold leafs
Overall, I was
only there for about 15 minutes and it was interesting to see the process. If you are pressed for time I wouldn’t bother
seeing it. There was no price of
admission but the staff may try to pressure you to buy some of the other things
they sell.
On my way to the
Monywa region I drove through a city called Sagaing. Out of nowhere you see this huge golden dome
sparkling in the sun. What I was looking
at was the Kaunghmudaw Pagoda or Yaza Mani Sula Kaunghmudaw located on the
outskirts of Sagaing. Standing tall at
46 meters (150 feet) the gigantic zedi dates back from 1636 and was built to
celebrate the foundation of Inwa as the royal capital.
My tour guide
told me that the breast of Thadominbya’s Queen inspired the shape of the dome. If you ever seen the slap stick comedy The
Naked Gun, there’s a scene where the two main characters are driving and pass
by a structure that’s shaped like a breast and one says “wherever I go seems to
remind me of my ex-wife”. Well, that
applies here too.
When
you walk onto the grounds the first room with a Buddha image is decorated with
a lot of mirrors everywhere. It’s a
spectacle to see and just outside is the main pagoda. The pagoda is 46 meters high and has a
circumference of 274 meters. The pagoda
differs from the traditional Burmese style pyramidal structures by having an
arched image chamber in the center of its base.
The chamber houses a massive seated 7 meters high Buddha statue, carved
out of solid white marble. The lowest
terrace of the pagoda is decorated with 120 nats (spirits) and devas. It is ringed by 802 stone lanterns, carved
with inscriptions of Buddha’s life in three languages: Burmese, Mon, and Shan
Yuan
It only takes a
few minutes to walk around the entire pagoda and there are numerous vendors
selling everything imaginable there.
Remember to remove your shoes when entering and to dress appropriately
too. Overall, other than the odd shape
of the dome it’s not much different than any other you’ll see while in
Mandalay. If you got a few minutes to
spare then definitely check it out.
Happy
traveling.
