Myanansankyaw Palace: We started off our second day in Mandalay at the Mandalay Royal Palace. The main palace grounds is located in the center of a walled fort surrounded by a moat. It was occupied by King Mindon and King Thibaw, the final two kings of the last Burmese monarchy. The British used the compound as a military fort during its colonization of Burma. It was later used by the Japanese military during World War II and was burnt to the ground as Allied forces retook the compound. Many of the buildings have since been reconstructed. The Myanmar Army still uses the compound as a military base.
At the center of the compound is the palace grounds, and the destination of our tour. We first came to the Great Audience Hall, made up of three sections: the Right Audience Hall, the Left Audience Hall, and the Central Audience Hall. As can be inferred from the name, this is the place where the king greeted all visitors to the palace. Standing at the far end of the Central Hall is the largest and grandest of all the thrones in the palace, the Sihasana, or Lion's Throne. Also signifying the importance of this building is the seven pyatthat, or roof tiers, above it.
A passageway leading from the throne in the Lion Throne Room leads directly into the Hall of Victory. Here, the king would sit upon the Hamsasana, or Hamsa Throne, to discuss diplomatic matters with his ministers or religious matters with monks. Continuing west through the palace grounds, we came upon the Central Palace, also known as the Glass Palace, located in the exact center of the entire compound. The royal family attended royal ceremonies in the eastern half of this building, in which was located the Bhamarasana, or Bee Throne.
After our stop at the Central Palace we continued walking around the grounds, past the Royal Treasury, until we came upon the watch tower. We climbed to the top where we saw views of the entire city and beyond to Mandalay Hill and the Irrawaddy River. It is said that Queen Supayalat stood atop the tower and watched British troops enter the compound, thus ending the royal rule in Burma forever.
We descended the tower, then headed west past the guards' and queens' residences until we came upon the Chief Queen's Audience Hall, where the Chief Queen spent much of her time meeting with lesser queens and palace servants. Located behind the Chief Queen's Audience Hall is the Myanansankyaw Golden Palace Cultural Museum. The museum displays royal and military dress, official documents containing handwritings of the royal family, pictures of royal government officials, and carriages used by the royals for transport. We were only in Mandalay for two days, a Monday and a Tuesday, the same two days of the week the museum is closed. However, our guide was able to locate a caretaker to let us in for our own private tour.
After visiting the museum, we headed back through the palace grounds to the entry at the east end, stopping again at the Central Palace, this time to view the western half. While royal ceremonies took place in the eastern half, the western half was kept private as the king's living quarters. The king slept in the main room, while each of the four principle queens slept in their own, smaller adjacent rooms. From there, we exited the grounds and drove east through the compound, past where the king's ministers would have been housed, the most important closest to the palace grounds and the least important closest to the compound walls. We finally headed out of the compound trough the east gate, the only gate open for tourists, checking out as we went, just like we had checked in earlier in the day.
Shwenandaw Monastery: From the Myanansankyaw Palace, we drove to the Shwenandaw Monastery, or Golden Palace Monastery. It is named as such because it used to be part of the Royal Palace, serving as the royal apartment of King Mindon, and where he subsequently died. In 1878, King Thibaw, son of King Mindon and the last reigning king of Myanmar, had this structure dismantled and eventually reconstructed in its current location. Having not been on the palace grounds during World War II, it escaped the fighting and is therefore the only remaining major structure of the original palace to exist today. It is constructed of teak in traditional Burmese style and is well known for its intricate carvings of Buddhist myths. While some of the carvings have been replaced, many of the originals still exist today. Although quite evident on the inside, little of the gold leaf that used to cover the exterior of this building can still be seen.
Maha Atulawaiyan Kyaungdawgyi: Located next to the Shwenandaw Monastery, this monastery was built by King Mindon in 1857. The original teak building burnt completely to the ground in 1890. Not originally on our tour, our guide said it had been a more popular tourist site when only the original masonry pilings remained, prior to being rebuilt in 1996 by the Burmese government. While we were visiting, the expansive building was being prepared for an upcoming function.
Kuthodaw Paya: Lying at the foot of Mandalay Hill, this pagoda built during the reign of King Mindon was modeled after Shwezigon Paya, the pagoda we saw just three days earlier in Bagan. Standing at each of the four corners of the pagoda base is a chinthe. A chinthe is a leogryph, or lion-like creature, that guards the entrances of pagodas and temples throughout Myanmar. Also on this site there exists 729 kyauksa gu, or stone-inscription shrines, each containing a page of the Tipitaka, the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism, inscribed on a slab of stone. The large number of pages and the size of the marble slabs have earned this pagoda the nickname "The World's Biggest Book".
Zegyo Market: After driving back into the city, we stopped at Zegyo Market. Founded during the reign of Mignon, this market served as the primary location for the distribution of food, crops, handicrafts and jewelry. The original market was destroyed by fire in 1897 and replaced by a masonry structure in 1903. The current, Chinese-style market was constructed in the 1990s after the colonial structure was demolished by the government. It is a common Myanmarian complaint that the influx of Chinese businessmen, primarily from Yunan Province in China, into Mandalay is eroding the ancient culture of the city, turning it into little more than a satellite of China.
Mya Nandar Restaurant: We next stopped for lunch at the Mya Nandar Restaurant, located on the banks of the Irrawaddy river. We ordered both a traditional fish and a traditional chicken dish, enjoying the view of the river as we dined before heading out for our afternoon trip upriver.
After lunch we boarded a riverboat and settled in for the one hour plus trip to the city of Mingun. Along the way we were able to observe life along the river, with ladies doing their laundry and kids swimming to escape the heat of the day. After arriving at our destination, we traversed a plank to the shore and walked up the beach until we came upon what appeared at first to be just a large pile of bricks. In actuality, it was the ruins of one of two huge lions guarding the entrance to the Mingun Pahtodawgyi. Both lions had cracked in half and fallen into the advancing river waters many years ago.
Mingun Pahtodawgyi: Continuing inland, we came upon the facade of Mingun Pagoda, begun by King Bodawpaya in 1791. Although mainly constructed by prisoners of war captured by King Bodawpaya, the project took a heavy toll on the inhabitants of Mingun, which badly wanted the project stopped. A prophesy was made stating that once the pagoda was finished, the country would be gone, so work was slowed and eventually stopped after Bodawpaya's death in 1819.
Had the pagoda been finished, it would have stood 150 meters (500 feet) tall. Even in its current, unfinished state, it stands at 50 meters (167 feet) and is the largest solid brick structure in the world. An earthquake in 1839 left large cracks throughout the structure. Just prior to docking, we were able to view the Pondaw Paya, a small-scale version of the Mingun Pahtodawgyi. We scaled the 174 steps of the external stairway on the pagoda and were treated with stunning views of Mingun, the Irrawaddy River, and Mandalay, 10 kilometers (6 miles) down river.
Mingun Bell: Cast in the years 1808-1810, the Mingun Bell was one of King Badawpaya's four great monuments, the others being the lions, the pagoda, and a reservoir. The bell is the second largest ringing bell in the world. It was knocked off its original supports in the 1839 earthquake that also caused the crack in the giant pagoda, and was left on the ground for 57 years, until it was resuspended and a shelter constructed over it.
Hsinbyume Pagoda: A short walk down the road from the Mingun Pagoda and Bell brought us to the Hsinbyume Pagoda. Constructed in 1816 by King Bagyidaw in honor of Princess Hsinbyume, it is unlike other pagodas in Myanmar in that it was not designed in typical Burmese style. Rather, the top is made to represent the mythical Sulamani Pagoda on Mount Muru, while the seven-tiered base represents the seven mountain ranges that must be passed to reach Mount Muru.
Mingun Buddhist Home for the Aged: With still plenty of daylight left after our visit to Hsinbyume Pagoda, we slowly made our way back trough town to our boat for the return boat trip. Along the way we made a couple of stops, the first being at the Mingun Buddhist Home for the Aged. Traditionally, older generations are taken care of by their children. However, if they have no one to take care of them, they may end up at the Mingun Buddhist Home for the Aged, which survives solely on public donations. While we were there, we witnessed a religious ceremony and an old lady who came out to feed the birds with some leftover rice. Unfortunately, the birds didn't get much of a chance to eat due to the stray dogs that got there first, despite the lady's unfruitful efforts to chase them away with her walking cane. Peep and I made a small donation.
Bhaddanta Vicittasara Bhivamsa Statue: Our second to last stop in Mingun was to view the Bhaddanta Vicittasara Bhivamsa Statue. This monk became famous for reciting, from memory, 16,000 pages of the Buddhist canonical text in May, 1954, earning him a place in the Guiness Book of World Records for his amazing memory.
Return to Mandalay: On the way back to the boat we returned to the Mingun Pahtodawgyi, this time to see the small Buddhist temple located in the front of the pagoda. Although intended to be used mainly for religious purposes, this unfinished pagoda is today much more popular as a tourist site, but the temple does attract some worshippers to the structure.
After boarding the boat, we enjoyed our leisurely cruise back to Mandalay, admiring the setting sun from the top deck. We finally ended our day with dinner at the Sedona hotel.