Kyauktawgyi Pagoda
Kyauktawgyi Pagoda is located
near the southern entry to Mandalay Hill.
Kyauktawgyi meaning the Great Marble Buddha Image in
Myanmar.
History
The Kyauktawgyi Pagoda was built by King Mindon
in 1853 on the model of the Ananda Temple at Pagan.
It closely resembles the Ananda in exterior form but
it falls short of the latter in construction and
interior decoration.
The pagoda was completed during 1878. 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.
It was said that about 10 thousand men took about
2 weeks to transport the stone block from the
Ayeyarwaddy River to the site where it is today.
Structure
The Buddha Image is seated in
"Bhumisparsha mudra", the gesture of "calling the
Earth to witness." The focus of this statue is the
hand, the eyes are severely downcast if not actually
closed.
The Compound
A covered corridor leads through the
garden of the arhats to the structure housing the
Buddha. On each of the four sides there are twenty
shrines with figures representing the arhats, the
eighty Great Disciples of the Buddha.
Event
One of the largest festivals in Mandalay is
usually held in October as the festival of the Kyauktawgyi Paya. Locals and foreign visitors are
crowded at such a time.
Travel Tips
Entrance Fee - US$5 per person |
