Maha Myat Muni Temple ( my, မဟာမြတ်မုနိဘုရား), also known as Wat Phra Sao Luang is a
Buddhist temple
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...
in
Kengtung
th , เชียงตุง
, other_name = Kyaingtong
, settlement_type = Town
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
, pushpin_map = Myanmar
, pushpin_label_position = left
, ...
,
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
(Burma). The temple is known for its replica of the
Mahamuni Buddha image in
Mandalay
Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census).
Mandalay was fo ...
.
The image was commissioned by the
saopha
Chao-Pha (; Ahom language, Tai Ahom: 𑜋𑜧𑜨 𑜇𑜡, th, เจ้าฟ้า}, shn, ၸဝ်ႈၾႃႉ, translit=Jao3 Fa5 Jao3 Fa5, my, စော်ဘွား ''Sawbwa,'' ) was a royal title used by the hereditary rulers of the T ...
(chieftain) of
Kengtung State
Kengtung ( my, ကျိုင်းတုံ; shn, ၵဵင်းတုင် ''Chiang Tung;'' ), known as Menggen Prefecture ( zh, 孟艮府) or Möng Khün Chiefdom or Mueng Khuen Fu (Tai Khün: ) from 1405 to 1895, was a Shan state ...
,
Sao Kawng Kiao Intaleng
Sao Kawng Kiao Intaleng succeeded his brother to become the 53rd ruler ( Sawbwa) of the Shan state of Kengtung in 1895. He, his first wife, and his sister, Princess Tip Htila, all attended the Delhi Durbar in 1903 in a party of Shan princes g ...
, and the abbot of Wat Zaing Ngarm in 1920.
A copy of the original image in Mandalay was cast in 1921 by U Tit and his workers, and installed and consecrated in 1926 in a new temple in Kengtung's town centre.
The Buddha image is subject to a face-washing ritual 2 to 3 times a month, similar to the image in Mandalay.
References
Buddhist temples in Myanmar
Buildings and structures in Shan State
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1926
20th-century Buddhist temples
{{Buddhism-monastery-stub