U Khandi (1868 – 14 January 1949) was a Burmese

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

known for his works on

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

pagodas A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

and other religious buildings in

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 ...

. U Khandi maintained the

Mandalay Hill Mandalay Hill ( ) is a hill that is located to the northeast of the city centre of Mandalay in Myanmar. The city took its name from the hill. Mandalay Hill is known for its abundance of pagodas and monasteries, and has been a major pilgrimage s ...

and organised many religious activities for 40 years.

Early life

U Khandi was born Maung Po Maung in Ywathaya Village,

Yamethin District Yamethin District ( my, ရမည်းသင်း) is a district of the Mandalay Region in central Myanmar. Townships The district contains the following townships: *Pyawbwe Township *Yamethin Township Yamethin Township is a township of Yame ...

in 1868.

Hermit life

U Khandi became hermit in 1900 and meditated at the Mandalay Thakho hill and Shwe-myin-tin hill. His goodwill organisation completed construction and renovation of several building pagodas and religious buildings at hilltops, such as those on the

Kyaiktiyo Pagoda Kyaiktiyo Pagoda ( my, ကျိုက်ထီးရိုးဘုရား or ; mnw, ကျာ်သိယဵု ; also known as Golden Rock) is a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage site in Mon State, Myanmar. It is a small pagoda () built on th ...

and at

Taung Kalat Taung Kalat ( my, ပုပ္ပါးတောင်ကလပ်) is a Buddhist monastery and temple complex located on Mount Popa in Mandalay Region, Myanmar. The site is built on a tall volcanic plug, and is one of several prominent ''Nat (spir ...

. His work was not only recognised by the Burmese people but also the colonial

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

, which gave him and his followers’ special privileges such as free travel certificates and work permits. U Khandi suffered minor

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

for three years and died on 14 January 1949. Two years later funeral celebrations were held and he was cremated.

Contributions and Life Work

Stone Inscriptions

U Khandi performed vast renovation projects throughout Myanmar during his lifetime, with a focus on remote hills and forest areas. One of his projects was to copy the Tripitakas donated by

King Mindon Mindon Min ( my, မင်းတုန်းမင်း, ; 1808 – 1878), born Maung Lwin, was the penultimate King of Burma (Myanmar) from 1853 to 1878. He was one of the most popular and revered kings of Burma. Under his half brother King P ...

onto marble slabs. In M.E. 1275 .E. 1913 in the compound of

Sandamuni Pagoda Sandamani Pagoda ( my, စန္ဒာမုနိစေတီ; formally ) is a Buddhist stupa located southwest of Mandalay Hill. It was commissioned by King Mindon Min in 1874 as a memorial to Mindon Min's younger brother, Kanaung Mintha, who w ...

, U Khandi inscribed Sutta,

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions remai ...

and Abhidhamma from the Tipitaka. He included complete explanations on 1,772 stone slabs, as well as inscribing a historical record on an iron sheet and a stone slab. These stone slabs are: # Vinaya Pitaka – 395 slabs #Sutta Pitaka – 1,207 slabs #Abhidhamma Pitaka – 170 slabs On 3 March 2011, the

Kyaikhtisaung Sayadaw The Kyaikhtisaung Sayadaw ( my, ကျိုက်ထီးဆောင်းဆရာတော်; 19 April 1928 – 25 July 2015) was a prominent Buddhist monk and weizza from Myanmar. Throughout his life, he restored nine Buddha Hair Rel ...

had 135 of the stone inscriptions brought to the Kyaikhtisaung Compound from

Buddha Relics

The Peshawar Relics ( three fragments of bone of the

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

) were kept in his ''dazaung'' from 1923 until after the Second World War when they were moved to a building at the foot of the hill and no longer on display.

Sandamuni Pagoda

The Dhamma Cetis of

were built several decades after the central zedi in 1913 by U Khandi.

References

*Burmese Encyclopedia Vol 2, p-320 printed in 1955 {{DEFAULTSORT:Khandi, U 1868 births 1949 deaths Burmese hermits Burmese Theravada Buddhists People from Mandalay Region