My friend and a native from Mandalay , OPPA, will show me around his hometown.
We're away from Mandalay, like one hour drive, 10 kilometers away from Mandalay.
And, this pagoda is really well known as 'White Pagoda'.
White Pagoda?
Yeah, it has a name, Mya Thien Dan Pagoda.
It is a little bit different, difficult for you to pronounce.
This pagoda is really quite famous for its architecture,
and it is one of the highest pagodas in Myanmar.
and the whole mountain represents the highest mountain in Buddhist literature, Mount Meru.
Meru Mountain. Yes!
I think I've seen it before.
Ah...
It looks like in the movie 'From Bangkok to Mandalay'.
Yes!
The famous actress from Myanmar...she was walking around here. What's her name?
Wutt Hmone Shwe Yi.
One of the famous actresses in Myanmar.
The film was taken here at May Thien Dan Pagoda.
I think, from that movie, the pagoda became popular among Asian countries.
We chose to stay at the bottom of Mandalay Hill where we can see a panoramic view of many pagodas.
Besides, from this place, it is easy to go to a lot of main attractions in this former capital city, including 'Mandalay Palace'.
Mandalay Palace is a gorgeous cultural site that you must visit.
It's a large complex comprised of many buildings because, in the past, there were many royal family members.
It's a former residence of two kings of Myanmar.
King Mindon who founded Mandalay, and King Thibaw.
And, it used to be the royal residence and that the seats of the government in 1885.
After that, it was British Colonial Era.
During World War II, this palace was bombed,
so the current site that you're seeing nowadays is the replica of the original palace which was built in the 1990s.
These photos are from over a century ago.
They are senior government officials.
This is King Thibaw, the last king of Myanmar.
And, these are photos of His Majesty's family.
Here we are, Shwe Nandaw Kyaung (Monastery).
It is one of the oldest buildings in Mandalay.
It was built in 1883, so it's around 150-160 years old.
This building is really famous for its wooden architecture.
because the original building was built with only wood.
They did not use any nails. They just used wood to create the whole building.
Yes.
And, for each wall, you can see that they depicted and captured the legendary characters.
The legendary stories on the wall are mostly based on Buddhism.
Buddhism.
You can see, this one... we call it 'Zor Gyi'.
Zowgyi.
It is a supernatural man in our legend.
And he gains supernatural power by privacy in the forest.
OK.
This is quite a famous characteristic in Myanmar tradition and culture.
Oh...
Here we are at Mahamuni Buddhist Temple .
This is truly massive gold.
It is the most famous and the most crowded place in Mandalay.
Yes.
And, we can also say that this is the most religious place in Mandalay.
Here, we can see Mohamuni Buddha Image inside.
Yeah.
The image is over 2,500 years old according to the history.
So, it's not from Mandalay?
No, it's not from Mandalay.
The Buddha image was brought from Rakhine State in Western Myanmar
Rakhine?
to Mandalay.
OK. And, can we go inside?
Yes, we can go inside.
You can see some of the people put Gold Leaves on the image to do some donation to the Buddha image.
Right.
And this?
Jade.
Real Jade?
Yes, real jade.
Ah.
Jade stone.
Wow!
This monastery is really significant in Mandalay.
It was built in 1857 by King Mindon who was the founder of this former capital, Mandalay.
So, Mandalay is the former capital of Myanmar.
Yes.
The last kingdom in Myanmar.
So, this monastry is 160 years old.
Yes. It's huge!
Yes. Since it is huge, the monastery is used to host national-level religious ceremonies.
Yes.
So, it can host nearly 2,000 audience in just one place.
Wow!
So, it is considered a Buddhist temple?
Yes, considered a Buddhist temple. Mostly, we call it Buddhist Monastery.
Monastery.
I can see that the materials are wood.
Yes, the materials are wood.
Teak wood?
Teak wood.
Wow!
And this building is quite famous for its architecture
because you can watch and learn the series of how they constructed this from many years ago.
On weekdays, not many people come here, but on weekends the monastery is usually crowded.
So, local people call this place 'Kuthodaw'?
Kuthodaw Pagoda.
And we call it 'Mahaloka Malezay'.
It was also built by King Mindon, the founder of this former capital, Mandalay.
This place is really unique that it is also recorded by the United Nation Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
As a World Heritage Site?
World Heritage Site.
This pagoda also has another Guinness World Record as the World's Biggest Book.
Book?
Yes, biggest book.
Why book?
Because inside, you will see stone scripts of all the teachings of Buddha.
So, the essence of Buddhism is here in the world.
OK. Let's go and see!
Sure.
OK. So, look at these stone scripts and you can see a lot of evidences.
These feature all of the teachings of Buddha.
So, King Mindon, the founder of Mandalay, hosted the 5th International Buddhism Conference in Mandalay.
Wow!
So, other Buddhist specialists and general Buddhists came to Mandalay to discuss about all of the teachings of Buddha.
So, he (King Mindon) needed the proof.
That's why he made those stone scripts and wrote all of the teachings of Buddha.
Here we are. One of the cultural spots in Mandalay, Kyauktawgyi Pagoda.
Kyauktawgyi?
Yes. Kyauktawgyi literally means that this is one of the biggest marble Buddha images in Myanmar.
Yes.
And, what's so fascinating about this place is that it was built also by King Mindon.
So, it's been 150 years.
See here! This is residual water after we washed the Buddha Image's face.
So, this is made of Thanaka.
We put it like this...and then...
OK.
You'll be in good luck (smile).
Alright.
Yeah. Beautiful.
This giant structure was made from one piece of marble stone.
Yes.
And, it is currently one of the biggest in Myanmar.
A-ha.
I think it was really hard to...how to say?
to carve?
Yeah, to carve.
From one stone, one piece of stone.
because you can see how alignment was so exact to be curved.
And, the body ratio is really great, and it's so marvellous and gorgeous, I think.
Yeah.
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