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The Mingun Bell ( my-Mymr, မင်းကွန်းခေါင်းလောင်းတော်ကြီး ) is a
The outer diameter of the rim of the bell is . The height of the bell is on the exterior and in the interior. The outside circumference at the rim is . The bell is thick and stands high from the rim to the top.
The bell is uncracked and in good ringing condition. The bell does not have a clapper but is rung by striking the outer edge.
in Burma''
pages 318–319. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd. Felice Beato captured a photograph of the bell prior to its resuspension.
Image:Mingun Bell 00467.jpg, Before 1896 - a picture by Felice Beato
Image:Mingun Bell-Zayat.JPG, Zayat which houses the Mingun Bell
Image:Mingun Bell-Plaque.JPG, Plaque in front of the Mingun Bell
Image:Suspension of the Mingun Bell.jpg, Suspension of the Mingun Bell
Image:Beneathmingunbell.jpg, Children under Mingun Bell, showing graffiti as of December 2014
Image:Mingun Bell 2016.JPG, Mingun Bell 2016
The Mingun Bell in detail
{{Buddhist sites in Myanmar Individual bells in Myanmar Pitched percussion instruments Burmese culture Buddhist art Buildings and structures completed in 1810
bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
located in Mingun, Sagaing Region
Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lon ...
, Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. It is located approximately north of Mandalay on the western bank of the Irrawaddy River. It was the heaviest functioning bell in the world at several times in history.
Description
The weight of the bell is 55,555 viss (). This number is conveniently remembered by many people in Myanmar as a mnemonic "''Min Hpyu Hman Hman Pyaw''" ( my-Mymr, မင်းဖြူမှန်မှန်ပြော), with the consonants representing the number 5 in Burmese astronomy and numerology. The weight of the bell and its mnemonic words are written on the surface of the bell in white.
The outer diameter of the rim of the bell is . The height of the bell is on the exterior and in the interior. The outside circumference at the rim is . The bell is thick and stands high from the rim to the top.
The bell is uncracked and in good ringing condition. The bell does not have a clapper but is rung by striking the outer edge.
History
Casting of the bell started in 1808 and was finished by 1810. KingBodawpaya
Bodawpaya ( my, ဘိုးတော်ဘုရား, ; th, ปดุง; 11 March 1745 – 5 June 1819) was the sixth king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. Born Maung Shwe Waing and later Badon Min, he was the fourth son of Alaungpaya, fo ...
(r. 1782–1819) had this gigantic bell cast to go with his huge stupa, Mingun Pahtodawgyi
The Mingun Pahtodawgyi ( my-Mymr, မင်းကွန်းပုထိုးတော်ကြီး, ) is an incomplete monument stupa in Mingun, approximately northwest of Mandalay in Sagaing Region in central Myanmar (formerly Burma). Th ...
. The bell was said to have been cast on the opposite side of the river and was transported by using two boats, which after crossing the river, proceeded up two specially built canals. The canals were then dammed and the bell was lifted by raising the water level by the addition of earth into the blocked canal. In this way the bell was originally suspended.
The Mingun Bell was knocked off its supports as a result of a large earthquake on 23 March 1839. It was resuspended by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in March 1896 using screw jacks and levers using funds from public subscription.Bird, George W (1897)in Burma''
pages 318–319. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd. Felice Beato captured a photograph of the bell prior to its resuspension.
Current status
At 90 tons, the Mingun Bell reigned as the largest ringing bell in the world until 2000, when it was eclipsed by the 116-ton Bell of Good Luck at the Foquan Temple,Pingdingshan
Pingdingshan (), also known as Eagle City ( zh, s=鹰城, p=Yīngchéng, t=鷹城), is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It had 4,904,701 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,756,333 lived in the built-up (or metro) a ...
, Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
, China.
Gallery
See also
* List of heaviest bellsReferences
External links
The Mingun Bell in detail
{{Buddhist sites in Myanmar Individual bells in Myanmar Pitched percussion instruments Burmese culture Buddhist art Buildings and structures completed in 1810