Kuthodaw Pagoda
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Kuthodaw Pagoda is located at the base of the
southeast stairways to Mandalay Hill.
The World's Largest Book The Kuthodaw Pagoda or
Maha Lawka Marazein Paya is often called the worlds
largest book. It is a large walled complex situated
at the base of the southeast stairway to Mandalay
Hill and was built by King Mindon at the same time
he was constructing the Royal Palace. Its central
stupa is modeled on the Shwezigon at Nyaung U near
Bagan.
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 The
Kuthodaw Paya (Pagoda), or Maha Lawka Marazein Paya,
contains what often is called the worlds largest
book. It is a large walled complex situated at the
base of the southeast stairway to Mandalay Hill and
was built by King Mindon at the same time he was
constructing the Royal Palace. Its central stupa is
modeled on the Shwezigon at Nyaung U near Bagan. An
on-site carved tablet indicates that the pagodas
height is 187 ft 9 in, high, while some guide books
list it at 100 ft (30 m). The former includes the
platform in the measurement.
Structure
The stupa itself, connected to the outside entry
by means of a long corridor, is set in the middle of
a thirteen acre field of 729 pitaka pagodas or
shrines (D ama
Cetis). Each shrine contains a marble slab,
inscribed on both sides with the Pali script text of
a portion the Tipitaka (Pali spelling, or Tripitaka,
in Sanskrit), Theravada Buddhisms sacred texts.
Taken together, they contain the entire text of the
Tipitaka and thus form the worlds largest book.
The slabs were carved from white Sagyin Hill marble
found just a few miles north of Mandalay. The work
of carving began in October 1860 and was carried out
in a special hall within King Mindons Royal Palace.
Each slab is 5 ft ((1.5 m) by 3.5 ft (1.1 m) wide
and 5-6 in. (12.7 15 cm) thick. The Buddhist
scholar/carvers completed their task in May 1869. If
spread out horizontally, the slabs would cover a
third of an acre (.1 ha); stacked vertically, the
pages would rise 340 ft (103 m). Originally the
lettering also had a gold leaf veneer. The
statistics given here are those given by U Tun Aung
Chain, retired Professor of History, Yangon
University.
Several sources suggest the important role of the
Fifth Buddhist Synod, which King Mindon called in
1872, in the development of the Kuthodaw. It perhaps
was at this meeting of 2,400 monks from throughout
the country that both authenticated the texts and
began the construction of the encasing shrines.
Travel Tips
Entrance Fee - US$5 per person.
Nearby Attraction
Kyauktawgyi Pagoda
Kyauktawgyi Pagoda, the pagoda of the Great
Marble Image, is sited near the southern entry to
Mandalay Hill. Although its construction was started
in 1853 by King Mindon, it was not completed until
1878, in part due to a palace rebellion and domestic
disturbances in the mid-1860s. The chief feature of
the Kyauktawgyi Paya is huge seated Buddha figure
sculpted from a single block of pale green marble
from the Sagyin quarry twelve miles north of
Mandalay. |
