 Though
Yangon is the modern day capital, Mandalay - the
'City of Gems' - remains the Golden Land's cultural
capital. To know Mandalay and its pleasant surrounds
is to know Myanmar.
Situated in the heart of Upper Myanmar, the city
is at the hub of river routes from China and India
and land routes from the Shan massif and Siam
beyond. She throbs with life and trade. This city
of markets and monasteries is the economic epicenter
of Upper Myanmar. It is also an important religious
center for Mandalay has as many living monasteries
and pagodas as Pagan has dead ones - the monastic
population numbers over 100,000.
 Yet
Mandalay is a relatively recent creation. One
story tells that King Mindon decided to move the
capital to a new site from Ava in 1856 because
the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company steamers kept him
awake at night with their whistles! The reality
is that Mindon, a modernizer and reformer, was
anxious to break with the past and establish a
new era of peace and prosperity for Myanmar. This
was symbolized by the construction of a splendid
new capital.
The palace-city was vast, housing government offices,
personnel and military regiments. The original
moat and walls a mile and a half on each side
still stand with their splendid pyatthat spires
over each gate. Within lay the 'forbidden city'
- an elaborate system of teak pavilions, throne
rooms and halls. Tragically this was destroyed
but it has now been reconstructed to give an impression
of the awesome scale of the royal palace and its
sumptuous decorations of gold leaf and lacquer.
 Around
the palace area, the devout king lavished donation
upon donation constructing splendid teak monasteries
for the royal monks, rest houses for pilgrims,
shrines on Mandalay Hill and most significantly
the great Kuthodaw Pagoda.
 The
Kuthodaw is rightly said to be the world's largest
book as here the king had the Buddhist scriptures
inscribed on 1,774 marble slabs, each housed in
its own private pavilion. These many dedications
may be visited today and truly conjure an image
of the strange mix between opulence and obeisance
that existed in royal Myanmar.
The British captured Mandalay in 1885 following
a campaign for control of the Ayeyarwady. A new
city on the grid plan was laid out extending to
the river bank and its important port. This plan
remains today though sadly many of the old colonial
buildings have been lost. Glimpses of the old
colonial city may still be seen, particularly
in the area around Mahamuni Temple, the city's
principal shrine.
Mandalay has excellent air, rail, road and river
connections and is a good base from which to explore
the rest of Upper Myanmar. The delightful hill
station of Pyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo) is a short drive
away. There you can see many colonial buildings
and even drive around in a stage-coach!.
A morning trip upriver from Mandalay is the great
unfinished pagoda of Mingun, with the largest
working bell in the world
Perhaps the real interest in Mandalay lies not
in the modern city center but in the surrounding
areas. Ava and Amarapura are former capitals situated
only 30 minutes drive south. In these tranquil
settings the magic of rural Myanmar may be felt.
Though the royal palaces have gone, the pagodas,
temples and monasteries remain. Of particular
interest is the three quarter mile long wooden
footbridge built by U Bein at Amarapura.
Across the river from Ava is
another former capital, Sagaing. In the rolling
hills beyond the modern town are situated countless
hermitages for both monks and nuns. Most date
from the turn of the century and are built in
a delightful mix of colonial and old Myanmar styles.
A traditional place of pilgrimage
for the people of Mandalay, it is to Sagaing that
people come to seek peace away from the fast pace
of city life. There can be nothing more sublime
than to wander in these hills, beneath a canopy
of flowering trees surrounded by the gentle murmur
of chanting monks and nuns. |
