Mandalay Hill
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Mandalay Hill ( ) is a hill that is located to the northeast of the city centre of
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 ...
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 ...
. 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 A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
site for
Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...
Buddhists 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 gra ...
for nearly two centuries. At the top of the hill is the Sutaungpyei (literally wish-fulfilling) Pagoda. A panoramic view of Mandalay from the top of Mandalay Hill alone makes it worthwhile to attempt a climb up its stairways. There are four covered stairways called saungdan leading up the hill from the south, southeast, west and north, and convenient seats of masonry work line these stairways all the way up. A one-way motor road today saves time and also makes it accessible for those who are unable to climb up the stairs, leading to an escalator and a lift to the pagoda at the summit.


Climbing Mandalay Hill

For those who are fit to make the climb, it is considered a rewarding experience and a meritorious deed at the same time. Two gigantic '' chinthe''s or
leogryph ''Chinthe'' ( my, ခြင်္သေ့ (); mnw, ဇာဒိသိုၚ် (); shn, သၢင်ႇသီႈ ()) is the Burmese word for 'lion'. The leograph of ''Chinthe'' is a highly stylized lion commonly depicted in Burmese iconogra ...
s (stylised lion figures) stand guard at the southern and main approach at the foot of the hill, popularly known as the ''Chinthe hnakaung atet'' (two chinthes ascent). It is a gentle climb and there are many stops along the way, most importantly the hermit U Khanti's ''dazaung'' or hall where 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 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. Leaving U Khanti's dazaung is by way of a tunnel lined by ''Hnakyeik shissu'' or the 28 Buddhas of the past and present worlds, or alternatively up a steep flight of steps next to the tunnel. Climbers will see plenty of stalls selling flowers, paper streamers, miniature pennants and umbrellas for the Buddha, and food and refreshment for visitors and pilgrims. All the dazaungs have frieze paintings, most of them from the late
Konbaung dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
period; there is one depicting Awizi ngayè'' ( Avici Hell) in gory detail. Farther up near the summit, a gigantic standing image of the Buddha called the ''Shweyattaw'' (literally standing) or ''Byadeippay'' (prophesying) Buddha with his right hand pointing towards the city. Legend has it that the Buddha once visited the place and prophesied that in the year 2400 of the Buddhist Era a great city would be built at the foot of the hill where his teachings would flourish. One curiosity that belongs to the myth surrounding the ancient kingdom of
Bagan Bagan (, ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Bagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that wou ...
is the so-called ' Kyanzittha's spear mark' near the top of the hill. He was supposed to have executed a miraculous pole vault using his spear across the
Irrawaddy Irrawaddy may refer to: *Irrawaddy River, the main river of Burma *Irrawaddy Delta, a rice growing region of the country *Ayeyarwady Region, an administrative division of Burma *''The Irrawaddy'', a Burmese news publication based in Chiang Mai, Tha ...
! The last stop before the Sutaungpyei pagoda completes the legend of Mandalay. Here on the south terrace of a small
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 ...
is the image of the ogress Sanda Muhki who, for want of something to offer the Buddha, made an offering of her own breasts. And for this extreme act of merit the Buddha made the prophecy that Sanda Muhki would be reborn as a great king who would build a city at the foot of the hill and become a great supporter of Buddhism in the year 2400 of the Buddhist Era (1857 AD), the year
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 ...
laid the foundations of Mandalay. On each of the four corners of the terrace can be seen a king of the ogres with his army of miniature ogre images behind him paying obeisance to the Buddha. There are also images of various creatures, one at each level before a Buddha image, such as a rabbit, a cockerel or a lizard, representations of the Buddha's innumerable rebirths during his cycle of Samsara (birth, suffering, death and rebirth).


At the summit

Once on the terrace of the Sutaungpyei Pagoda, a panoramic view of the Mandalay plain stretches far to the horizon, with the old city walls and moat, the Thudhamma
Zayat A zayat (; ; from Mon ) is a Burmese building found in almost every village. It serves primarily as a shelter for travelers, at the same time, is also an assembly place for religious occasions as well as meeting for the villagers to discuss ...
s (rest houses), various stupas around such as the
Kuthodaw Pagoda Kuthodaw Pagoda ( my, ကုသိုလ်တော်‌ဘုရား, ; literally ''Royal Merit'', and formally titled Mahalawka Marazein ) is a Buddhist stupa, located in Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar), that contains the world's largest book. ...
and its 729 satellite stupas each housing a page inscribed in stone the world's largest book (the entire
Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
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 ...
Canon), Kyauktawgyi Buddha Temple and
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 ...
, the
Irrawaddy Irrawaddy may refer to: *Irrawaddy River, the main river of Burma *Irrawaddy Delta, a rice growing region of the country *Ayeyarwady Region, an administrative division of Burma *''The Irrawaddy'', a Burmese news publication based in Chiang Mai, Tha ...
to the west and the Minwun Hills on its opposite bank, the road to Madaya and Mogok to the north, and the Shan Yoma range of mountains to the east. There is yet a final stop down the northern slope immediately after the Sutaungpyei Pagoda called the ''Mwegyi hnakaung'' (Two Great Snakes) Pagoda. It has the images of two great cobras that were believed to frequent the hill to pay their obeisance to the Buddha and above these images seated are those of two
Nat Nat or NAT may refer to: Computing * Network address translation (NAT), in computer networking Organizations * National Actors Theatre, New York City, U.S. * National AIDS trust, a British charity * National Archives of Thailand * National As ...
s that they became when they died. Pilgrims stuff bank notes in the cobras' mouths and pray. The Champac, with its fragrant white blossoms on branches like candelabra, grows wild on the hill, along with the crimson red flowers over the feathery foliage of the Flame tree. Sunset over the river and the western hills as seen from Mandalay Hill can be a wonderful experience, and crowds of tourists may be encountered in the evenings enjoying it.


World War II

In March 1945, the
British Fourteenth Army The British Fourteenth Army was a multi-national force comprising units from Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries during the World War II, Second World War. As well as British Army units, many of its units were from the British Indian ...
's
Indian 19th Infantry Division The 19th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II, and played a prominent part in the final part of the Burma Campaign. History The 19th Indian Infantry Division was raised in Secunderabad, Indi ...
under the command of Major-General Thomas Wynford 'Pete' Rees, dubbed the 'Pocket Napoleon' by his men on account of his size and successful military career, was closing in on the Japanese in Mandalay where resistance was based mainly at Mandalay Hill with its pagodas and temples honeycombed for machine-guns, well supplied and heavily garrisoned. Fort Dufferin or the walled city with the royal palace was another pocket of resistance by the remaining Japanese troops. A Gurkha battalion stormed up the hill engaging in fierce hand-to-hand fighting all day and night on the 9th of March, and they were joined the next day by two companies of a British battalion. The Japanese stood firm and the last defenders had to be blown out from the cellars by rolling down petrol drums and igniting them with tracer bullets. It was not until the 11th of March that the hill fell into British hands. Aerial bombardment was resorted to when shelling from the hill failed to breach the city wall and destroy the enemy, and
Mandalay Palace The Mandalay Palace ( my, မန္တလေး နန်းတော်, ), located in Mandalay, Myanmar, is the last royal palace of the last Burmese monarchy. The palace was constructed between 1857 and 1859 as part of King Mindon's founding ...
, a national heritage of great importance, burnt down during the siege. Whether it was the shelling and bombing or the enemy that destroyed the splendid teak palace was never determined with any certainty.


Gallery

File:Chinthes guarding Mandalay Hill.JPG, Two giant '' chinthe''s guard the southern approach to Mandalay Hill Image:Sanda Muhki, Mandalay Hill, Myanmar.jpg, Sanda Muhki, the ogress, offering her own breasts to the Buddha File:Mandalay Hill, Myanmar.JPG, Mandalay Hill from East Moat Bridge File:Sandamuni Pagoda.JPG,
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 ...
where Crown Prince Ka Naung lies buried File:Mandalay Hill.JPG, Up the ''saungdan'' at Mandalay Hill File:Lizard-Buddha.JPG, The lizard is one of many former incarnations of the Buddha File:Mandalay Hill 2.jpg, Mandalay Hill from
Mingun Mingun ( ) is a town in Sagaing Township of Sagaing Region, north-west Myanmar (Burma), located 11 km up the Ayeyarwady River on the west bank from Mandalay. Its main attraction is the ruined Mingun Pahtodawgyi. Mingun Pahtodawgyi The Mingu ...
across the
Irrawaddy Irrawaddy may refer to: *Irrawaddy River, the main river of Burma *Irrawaddy Delta, a rice growing region of the country *Ayeyarwady Region, an administrative division of Burma *''The Irrawaddy'', a Burmese news publication based in Chiang Mai, Tha ...
File:Shan Yoma.jpg, The Shan Yoma east of Mandalay Hill Irrawaddy Mandalay-Hill.JPG, View from the west, on the River Irrawaddy File:MandalayHill from MaymyoRoad.JPG, View from the east,
Maymyo Pyin Oo Lwin or Pyin U Lwin (, ; Shan: ), formerly and colloquially referred to as Maymyo (), is a scenic hill town in the Mandalay Region, Myanmar, some east of Mandalay, and at an elevation of . The town was estimated to have a population of ...
Road File:MandalayHill fromNorth.JPG, View from the north, Madaya Road


See also

*
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 ...
*
Kuthodaw Pagoda Kuthodaw Pagoda ( my, ကုသိုလ်တော်‌ဘုရား, ; literally ''Royal Merit'', and formally titled Mahalawka Marazein ) is a Buddhist stupa, located in Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar), that contains the world's largest book. ...
*
Tripiṭaka tablets at Kuthodaw Pagoda Stone tablets inscribed with the ''Tripiṭaka'' (and other Buddhist texts) stand upright in the grounds of the Kuthodaw Pagoda ( means 'royal merit') at the foot of Mandalay Hill in Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma). The work was commissioned by King ...
*
List of mountains in Burma The following is a list of mountains in Myanmar (Burma). The elevations are in metres. For the names of the mountains in the Latin script the most common transcription has been adopted. Note: Many mountains in the country are important not b ...


References


External links


Asian Historical Architecture: Mandalay Hill
{{Buddhist sites in Myanmar Burmese culture Hills of Myanmar Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Myanmar