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MANDALAY & AROUND


AROUND MANDALAY


Mingun
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Home to a trio of unique pagodas, Mingun
(admission Sagaing/Mingun $3 ticket) is a
compact riverside village that makes a popu-
lar half-day excursion from Mandalay. The
journey is part of the attraction, whether put-
tering up the wide Ayeyarwady or rollercoast-
ering from Sagaing along a rural lane through
timeless hamlets of bamboo-weave homes.

 1 Sights
Mingun Paya STUPA RUIN
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Started in 1790, Mingun Paya (or Pahtodaw-
gyi) would have been the world’s biggest
stupa had it been fi nished. In fact, work
stopped when King Bodawpaya died in 1819.
That left only the bottom third complete.
But that is still a huge structure – a roughly
240ft cube on a 460ft lower terrace – which
is often described as the world’s largest
pile of bricks. And for added drama, there
are several deeply cut cracks caused by an
1838 earthquake. Across the road, just the
haunches remain of two vast brick chinthe
(half-lion, half-dragon guardian deities) that
would have guarded the pagoda.

Climbing to the top of Mingun Paya af-
fords predictably fi ne views across the river
towards hazily distant Mandalay, but de-
spite the structure’s dilapidated state, you
must go barefoot, which can be very painful
on soft Western feet.
To see the giant structure without its
foreground of snack shops and ticket booth,
walk the path around the back – best in af-
ternoon light.
To see what Mingun Paya would have
looked like had it ever been completed, have
a quick look at diminutive Pondaw Paya,
200yd south at the end of the tourist strip.

Mingun Bell GIANT BELL
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Continuing his biggest-is-best obsession, in
1808 Bodawpaya commissioned a gigantic
bronze bell. Weighing 55,555 viss (90 tonnes),
it’s 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). Another unusual feature of the
Mingun Bell is that you can scramble be-
neath and stand within while some helpful
bystander gives it a good thump.
Across the road, a Buddhist nursing home
for family-less elderly folk is always glad of
donations.

Hsinbyume Paya BUDDHIST STUPA
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Built in 1816, possibly using materials pil-
fered from Mingun Paya, this unusual pa-
goda is supposedly a representation of the
Sulamani Paya. That, according to the Bud-
dhist plan of the cosmos, stands atop Mt
Meru, the mountain that stands at the cen-
tre of the universe. The stupa is surrounded
by seven wavy whitewashed terraces repre-
senting the seven mountain ranges around
Mt Meru. At the top, one Buddha sits direct-
ly behind another; the small one behind was
beheaded by raiders looking for gold but
when it was fi xed, locals worried that Bud-
dha’s head was tilted too low, so they made
another.

Settawya Paya BUDDHIST SHRINE
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Hollow and lacking fi nesse, this 1811 shrine
contains a ‘footprint’ of the Buddha. How can
one be sure it’s real? Well, who else had feet
a yard long with conch-shell toes and a fl oral
heel? A lovably naive rank of sitting nat stat-
ues leads down to the riverbank behind.

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Ayer
Riveyarwady
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Chinthe
Ruin

Chinthe
Ruin

Mingun
Bell

Settawya
Paya

Ticket
Booth

Poi ng

Snack
Restaurants

Hsinbyume
Paya

Pond aw
Paya

Buddhist
Nursing
Home

Mingun
Paya

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