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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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Chinthe

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Chinthe

Ruin

Mingun

Bell

Settawya

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Ticket

Booth

Poi ng

Snack

Restaurants

Hsinbyume

Paya

Pond aw

Paya

Buddhist

Nursing

Home

Mingun

Paya

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