Mandalay In The Rain

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The weather deteriorated overnight.  We awoke to flooded grounds and staff waiting on the veranda with large umbrellas to escort us to breakfast,  We could only spend so long admiring the days folded napkins.  They seem to have an inexhaustible repertoire at Emerald Land.  So, what do you do on a wet day in Mandalay?  We had a car and driver booked to take us to U'Beins Bridge and on to three Ancient Capitals before returning to U Bein for he iconic sunset.  I had been looking forward to it for a year

The only good thing about  the rain was the bridge was deserted and he area devoid of touts and tourists.  I guess the two go together.  It was nice to be alone with the children going to school and the ever present monks

The turn in the bridge at the far end is designed to withstand the wind and waves

Leaving Kyauk Tau Gyi Pagoda                 

Heading to Tauglhaman Village

                     Forlorn Village Stupa

Mandalay In The Rain

We drove on to Ava, where the only boat was tied up at the river bank, minus its ferryman.   We abandoned our plans in favour of visiting all the undercover attractions Mandalay has to offer starting with the Gold Rose gold leaf factory

At  Gold Rose the method of production has not changed a great deal in centuries.  The gold comes from Northern Burma in 24 gram nuggets which have been rolled into thin ribbons.  Small squares are cut and stacked between specially prepared sheets of bamboo paper.  This wad of gold and paper is wrapped in deer skin and lashed to a stone anvil and stuck repeatedly for 30 min.  In the cutting room  teams of women sitting  in cramped conditions cut the rounds of gold into sixths and repack between sheets of paper.  They work without fans or air conditioning as this would make the incredibly thin sheets of gold impossible to work with.   The process is repeated twice before the final bundles are returned to the anvils and pounded repeatedly for five hours.  Two or three beaters work in unison, their teak mallets pounding out a rhythm
This is what it is all about

Devout males and only males, apply gold leaf to the 15cm thickness already adorning the  original bronze Mahamuni Buddha.  They say there is more gold on the Buddha than they have in the Bank of England.  This image is venerated around the world as being only one of five images of Gautama Buddha cast during his lifetime

Looted in 1784 by King Bodawapaya (executor of bell casters) it was housed in it's custom built pagoda where every morning at 4.00am a team of monks washes the images face

Witnessed by a great number of Buddhist devotees, the men up front, the women behind a rope, a very senior monk of the Mahamuni temple assisted by a number of helpers washes the face of the images and brushes the teeth. The ritual is performed in great detail and takes considerable time

 
 

Mahamumi Temple                        

 Kalaga Embroiderer

                          Elderly Gentleman
Our impromptu tour of the city involved time Xmas shopping at the Mahamuni Pagoda complex and visits to artisans  workshops

                

Kuthodaw Pagoda

Kuthodaw Pagoda is known for the 729 pitaka pagodas that surround the cental Maha Lawka Sutupa

           

            

They were erected in 1872 for the Fifth Buddhist Synod, each houses a marble slab inscribed with passages from the Triptaka in Pali script.   Over two hundred people created the original slabs
 

During the Synod 2400 Buddhist monks read the entire script non-stop, it took them almost six months to complete the readings. The 730th slab tells the story of the construction of "The Worlds Largest Book"
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