According to legend, on a visit to Myanmar accompanied by his disciple Ananda, the Buddha climbed the 236 metre high Mandalay Hill, overlooking the surrounding plains. Standing at the summit, he pointed with arm outstretched to where the Mandalay Palace stands today, and declared that a great city would be founded there after 2400 years. That year corresponds to 1857 AD, when King Mindon ordered the move of the royal capital from Amarapura to a new city constructed at the foot of Mandalay Hill and bearing its name. Near the top of the hill a standing Buddha image represents the prophecy.
Mandalay’s streets are laid out on a grid system, around a large, square palace compound, surrounded by a high, red wall and a moat. The effect is unlike any other city in Southeast Asia. With Myanmar’s highest concentration of monks, with hundreds of monasteries and with legions of craftsmen, Mandalay is widely regarded as the religious and cultural heart of Myanmar. Among the most venerable pagodas are the Mahamuni Paya, now home to an ancient Buddha image from Rakhine State in western Myanmar, covered in gold leaf by devout Buddhists over many years, and Kuthodaw Paya, with 729 marble slabs bearing inscriptions of the entire Buddhist Tripitaka canon placed around the central stupa.
Many small scale workshops at Mandalay specialise in crafts such as woodcarving, stone and marble carving, bronze figure casting, gold leaf making, jewellery, silk weaving, Kalaga tapestry and puppet making, etc., all clustered in certain quarters of the city, where objects of high craftsmanship can be purchased at bargain prices. In the past, these workshops used to supply the royal palace.
On the entertainment front, marionette shows in the company of live traditional Myanmar music and singing are a great pleasure to watch. Delightful not only to Myanmar audiences, traditional variety shows (a-nyeint pwe), which include improvised slapstick comedy, singing and dancing can be enjoyed also by non-Myanmar speaking visitors on an evening’s outing.
Not far from Mandalay, one of the most photographed sights in Myanmar is the 1.2 kilometre long rickety U Bein Bridge crossing the Taungthaman Lake. Over two centuries old, the bridge was built by governor U Bein of Amarapura from teak wood salvaged from the remains of the deserted palace at Sagaing, another former royal capital. Yet another excursion while in Mandalay is a scenic boat trip upriver to the ancient city of Mingun, which is famous for having the world’s largest uncracked bronze bell and a colossal unfinished pagoda (Mingun Paya).
Having visited the usual attractions, an early morning’s bicycle ride along a dirt road out from the eastern side of Mandalay towards the hazy outline of the Shan Hills will lead to some outlying villages offering a glimpse of rural life and numerous opportunities for photography. A bag of sweets for the village children will not go amiss.
