Maha Bodhi Ta Htaung ( my, မဟာဗောဓိတထောင်, ) is a Buddhist religious complex located in

Monywa Township Monywa is a Capital City in the Sagaing Division of Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speak ...

Sagaing Region Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lon ...

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). It is known for the Giant Standing Buddha statue, the third tallest in the world, and for the Great Attitudes of U Narãda, who built the monastery. This '' Sāsana'' (religious) site contains thousands of

Buddha statues Much Buddhist art uses depictions of the historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha, which are known as Buddharūpa (literally, "Form of the Awakened One") in Sanskrit and Pali. These may be statues or other images such as paintings. The main figure in ...

beneath thousands of Bo trees, the Giant

Reclining Buddha A reclining Buddha is an image that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic theme in Buddhist art. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. He is lying on his right side, his he ...

Statue, Aung Sekkya

Stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

, and other large Buddha statues. Currently, a Sitting Buddha Statue, which is expected to become the world's largest Sitting Buddha Statue, is in construction. Many Buddhist monks can study the Buddhist ''

Pariyatti ''Pariyatti'' is a Pāli term referring to the study of Buddhism as contained within the ''suttas'' of the Pāli canon. It is related and contrasted with ''patipatti'' which means to put the theory into practice and ''pativedha'' which means pene ...

'' literature at the monastery. Moreover, meditation centres or Vipassãnā centres are opened at this monastic site both for

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...

and laypersons.

History

Maha Bodhi Ta Htaung was founded by Maha Bodhi Ta Htaung Sayadaw Ven Nārada on 5 May 1960. He planted thousands of

Bo tree ''Ficus religiosa'' or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipal tree, ...

s throughout his life on recalling the Buddha attained beneath the Bo tree in

Bodh Gaya Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( pi, ...

, India. He started to plant them on a plot, with Nan Oo Sayadaw, the grandson of

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 ...

, at 8.55 AM on 6 May 1960. Bo trees hold religious significance for Buddhists since it is the tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment. Before he reached this monastery, the monastery was just a small one for Khatakkan villagers. Now, the Bodhi Ta Htaung (One Thousand Bo Trees) Auspicious Ground has been extended to a area that has more than 9,000 Bo trees. The monastery is noted in Myanmar and around the world for its many thousands of Bodhi trees.

Laykyun Sekkya statue

Built in 1995, the

Laykyun Sekkya The Laykyun Sekkya Buddha ( my, လေးကျွန်းစကြာ) is, as of 2018, the third-tallest statue in the world at . Details This statue of Gautama Buddha stands on a throne located in the village of Khatakan Taung, near Monywa, ...

Buddha statue is high with thirty one floors, referring to the 31 planes of existence or 31 Realms of Life Cycle according to Buddhist literatures. The mural paintings in every floor for each Realm are very interesting and famous. The pedestal is high. It is the second-tallest Buddha statue in the world after the Spring Temple Buddha in China. Construction of the statue was finished in 2008. On Banda vah mountain in Bodhi Tahtaung monastery, a Sitting Buddha statue is also being built for completing the last desire of Sayadawgyi, U Nārada.http://www.facebook.com/Bodhi1000

Reclining Buddha Statue

The Reclining Buddha Statue was built on 8 January 1991. It has a length of and a width of . It is hollow inside the statue and the Great Chronicles of Buddha are displayed.

Aung Sekkya Pagoda

Built in 1979, the Aung Sekkya was modeled after the Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon. At , the pagoda is about two thirds the size of the Shwedagon. People can walk up the outside stairs or walk through the hollow walkway inside the stupa in to the dome of the stupa.

Leadership

The site is led by a chief abbot known as a ''

sayadaw A sayadaw ( my, ဆရာတော်, ; , and alternatively spelled ''hsayadaw'', ''sayado'', ''sayāḍo'' or ''sayāḍaw'') is a Burmese Buddhist title used to reference the senior monk or abbot of a monastery. Some distinguished sayadaws wo ...

''. The founding abbot, Ven. Narada, died in Mandalay on 22 November 2006. Since his demise, five Chief ''sayadaw''s have succeeded him as the Nāyaka Sayadaws according to his will.

References

{{Buddhist sites in Myanmar Buddhist temples in Myanmar Religious buildings and structures completed in 1960