Kuthodaw

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. It lies at the foot of Mandalay Hill and was built during the reign of King Mindon. The stupa itself, which is gilded above its terraces, is high, and is modelled after the Shwezigon Pagoda at Nyaung-U near Bagan. In the grounds of the pagoda are 729 ''kyauksa gu'' or stone-inscription caves, each containing a marble slab inscribed on both sides with a page of text from the '' Tipitaka'', the entire Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism.

Royal merit

Mindon Min had the pagoda built as part of the traditional foundations of the new royal city of Mandalay in 1857. He was later to convene the Fifth Buddhist Synod in 1871, but wanted to leave a great work of merit by having the Tipitaka set in stone for posterity, meant to last five millennia after the Buddha. Construction began in 1860, its ''hti'' (umbrella or crown) mounted on 19 July 1862, and the inscriptions were laid open to the public on 4 May 1868. They were arranged in neat rows within three enclosures, 42 in the first, 168 in the middle and 519 in the third. One more stands at the southeast corner of the first enclosure making it 730, and this stone records how it all came into being. Thirty four brick zayats (rest houses) stood all around except on the east side of the pagoda.

The main entrance is from the south through massive but open teak doors ornately carved with floral designs, scrolls, and Deva Nats. It is a covered approach or ''saungdan'' as in most Burmese pagodas with frescoes under the roof. Between the rows of stone-inscription stupas grow mature star flower trees (''Mimusops elengi'') that emanate a jasmine-like fragrance to the entire complex. Burmese families may be seen having a picnic in the cool shade under these trees, picking the flowers to make star flower chains for the Buddha or to wear in their hair, or the children playing hide and seek among the rows of stupas. On the southwest inner terrace is one very old tree believed to be 250 years old, its low spreading boughs propped up by supports.

Annexation and desecration

After the annexation of Mandalay by the British in 1885, the walled city with Mandalay Palace became Fort Dufferin, and troops were billeted all around Mandalay Hill in the monasteries, temples and pagodas. They became off-limits to the public and Burmese were no longer allowed to visit their religious sites. One revenue surveyor called U Aung Ban then came up with the idea of appealing direct to Queen Victoria since she had promised to respect all religions practised by her subjects. To their amazement and great joy the British queen promptly ordered the withdrawal of all her troops from religious precincts in 1890. This however turned to great sadness when they found that the pagoda had been looted from the ''hti'', left lying on the ground stripped of its bells, gold, silver, diamonds, rubies and other precious stones, down to the Italian marble tiles from its terraces. The ''zayat''s lay in utter ruin and the bricks had been used to build a road for the troops. All the brass bells from all the ''kyauksa gu'' stupas were gone, 9 on each making it 6570 in total. The gold ink from the letters as well as the sides and top of each marble slab had also disappeared. All the biloos along the corridors had lost their heads, and the marble eyes and claws from the masonry chinthes gone.

Restoration

In 1892, a committee of senior monks, members of the royal family and former officers of the king, including Atumashi Sayadaw (the Abbot of Atumashi Monastery), Kinwon Min Gyi U Kaung (chancellor), Hleithin Atwinwun (minister of the royal fleet), Yaunghwe Saopha Sir Saw Maung and Mobyè Sitkè (a general of the royal army), was formed to start restoration works with the help and donations from the families of the original donors according to custom and also from the public.

It was the ''sitkè'' who asked permission from the senior monks to plant the ''hkayei'' star flower trees as well as some ''meze'' (Madhuca longifolia) trees. Gold letters were replaced with black ink which made it easier to read. The metal ''hti''s of the ''kyauksa gu''s were replaced with stone paid for by members of the royal family (155), former officers of the royal army (58), Shan Saophas and Myosas (102), and public donations (414). In 1913 Sir Po Tha, a rice trader of Rangoon, had the pagoda repaired and regilded. The next year, the Society of Pitaka Stone Inscriptions gave an iron gate to the south left open as the carved wooden panels had been destroyed by the soldiers. The west gate was donated by the famous ''zat mintha'' (theatre performer) U Po Sein the following year, and the north and east gates by the children and grandchildren of King Mindon in 1932. In 1919 the hermit U Khandi led the rebuilding of the south and west ''saungdan''s (covered approaches).

UNESCO inscription

In 2013, UNESCO plaque indicating that the Maha Lawkamarazein or Kuthodaw Inscription Shrines at Kuthodaw Pagoda, which contain the world's largest book in the form of 729 marble slabs on which are inscribed the Tripitaka, were inscribed on to the Memory of the World Register.

Gallery

File:Kuthodaw Pagoda stone tablet.jpg, One of the stone inscriptions, originally in gold letters and borders, at Kuthodaw
File:Kuthodaw_Pagoda_tablet_detail.jpg, Detail of the lettering on one of Kuthodaw's stone tablets
File:Myanmar tourist sale.JPG, ''Saungdan'' (covered approach) to Kuthodaw from the south
Image:Kuthodaw_west.JPG, The west ''saungdan'' of Kuthodaw
Image:Stairs to the upper terrace Kuthodaw Pagoda (0667).JPG, Stairs to the upper terrace of Kuthodaw guarded by mythical creatures
Image:Kuthodaw_Bell.JPG, The bell at Kuthodaw
Image:Buddha statue at Kuthodaw.JPG, ''Inga nan paya'' - the small Buddha shrine for the planetary post Mercury at Kuthodaw
File:Zayat at Kuthodaw Pagoda 2.jpg, A '' zayat'' on the reservoir south of Kuthodaw
Image:Kuthodaw_picnic.JPG, A family picnic at Kuthodaw under the star flower trees
Image:Zayat at Kuthodaw Pagoda.jpg, A '' zayat'' on the southeast terrace of Kuthodaw
File:Kuthodaw1.JPG, Kuthodaw pagoda, the wall
Image:Kuthodaw aerialview.JPG, Kuthodaw Paya from Mandalay Hill
Image:Kuthodaw main shrine.JPG, The main shrine at the end of the southern approach
File:Ku Tho Taw Pagoda & Sandar Muni Pagoda, Mandalay.jpg, Kuthodaw Pagoda & Sandar Muni Pagoda

See also

*Fifth Buddhist council
* World's largest book

References

External links

Asian Historical Architecture: Kuthodaw Temple (1857 and later)
Prof. Robert D. Fiala, 2002, Concordia University, Nebraska, USA, Retrieved on 2006-08-27
Mimusops elengi: star flower treePhotos of Kuthodaw Pagoda
at Have Camera Will Travel
Allon et al. 2016
Conservation and project report

{{Buddhist sites in Myanmar

Buddhist temples in Myanmar
Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Myanmar
Buddhist temples in Mandalay
19th-century Buddhist temples
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1868