Mingun

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Hsinbyume or Myatheindan pagoda in Mingun

Mingun Paya.

Nun on alms round, Mingun Paya, Myanmar Courtesy: http://www.whileseated.org

Mingun (Burmese: မင္‌းက္ဝန္‌မ္ရုိ့; MLCTS: mang: kwan mrui.) is a town in Sagaing Division, northwest Myanmar (formerly Burma), located 11 km up the Ayeyarwady River on the west bank from Mandalay. Its main attraction is the ruined Mingun Pahtodawgyi, the remains of a massive unfinished Buddhist stupa begun by King Bodawpaya in 1790. The temple was not completed, due to an astrologer claiming that, once the temple was finished, the king would die. Had the stupa been completed, it would have been the largest in the world at 150 meters. Despite its ruined state, the remains are impressive, making it the largest pile of bricks in the world. There are huge cracks in the structure from the earthquake of 1838, but a small shrine with a Buddha image still serves its purpose as a place of worship and meditation.^[1] Pondaw paya or a working model of the stupa can be seen nearby.

King Bodawpaya also had a gigantic bell cast to go with his huge stupa. The Mingun Bell weighs 90 tons, and is today the largest ringing bell in the world. The weight of the bell in Burmese measurement, is 55,555 viss or peiktha (1 viss = 1.63 kg), handed down as a mnemonic "Min Hpyu Hman Hman Pyaw", with the consonants representing the number 5 in Burmese astronomy and numerology. ^[2]^[3]

Just a couple of hundred yards from the great stupa and bell lies the beautiful white Hsinbyume or Myatheindan Pagoda with a distinctive architectural style modelled after the mythical Myinmo taung or Mount Meru, built in 1816 by Bodawpaya's grandson and successor Bagyidaw and dedicated to the memory of his first consort Princess Hsinbyume (Lady of the White Elephant, granddaughter of Bodawpaya, 1789-1812) who died in childbed.^[4]^[5]