Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-10
PAGODAS Of htNDALAY
tt e
H n
Mindon Minis Idea Of Ac-
curing Merit 4 A /"
A NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
SAID 10 BE ovEK SEVEN HUN
DRIED STRUCTURES.
State Barge in Which Min and Thebaw
Sailed on the Royal Moat-
A ailded Monastery.
A OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald


Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald
MANDALAY, April g. 1904.
Somebody with a fertile mind In 1850 sus-
sested to King Mindon Min of Burma the
fantastic idea Of acquiring merit" with
the gods by erecting long rows of pagodas
exactly alike. He selected a site about
mar mile square just outside the walls
OF the palace, and there carried out the
scheme In most remarkable manner. The
place IS surrounded by high wall with
iouf imposing entrances at the cardinal
points OF the compass, and the place is
known as The Four Hundred and Fifty
Fasooas. They are arranged in long
rows or twenty-six pagodas. alternating
with rows of lemon trees. which have been
planted between them. The paRodas are
twenty feet high and about eight feet
square. made Of brick, succeed In fanciful
designs and covered with whitewash. In
the center OF the Enclosure is an imposInr
pagoda Of the same design reaching the
height OF sfxty-two feet, with platforms
and galleries at different elevations. where
people may stand and look over the extra
oruinary scene before them.
A!tn0ugh they are called '"The Four Hum
dred and Fifty Pagodas, there are many
more than that; The Buddhist priests in
SAAe~A Do VI eh0 QldCc claim Clac there Ia
even thousand. but the English photoC-
rapher here tells me that he counted them
year or so ago and found exactly TO It
Is TOO hot for me to count them, but any
one can see that the latter figure is not far
from right. Each pagoda contains a marble
SLAB about three feet long by two feet wide.
upon which Is Transcribed version of the
budonlst commandments. which Mindon
MIN nad prepared for this purpose by
commission Of learned pundits. The tablets
are all uniform in size and styIe and are
inscribed In the Burmese letters. which are
curious and quite ornamental, although not
SO much SO as the Arabian, Persian or
Chinese.
In little shrine at the foot Of the central
paeoda Is marble slab containing what is
Claimed to be footprint of Buddha al
tnoush 1t is four feet long and thirty inches
w,oe. ana tradition tells us that the apostle
Oh the molly calm was man of small
stature. The Burmese, however. do NOT
nina little discrepancy Of that sort II
they did they would be doomed to pernetuaI
dount and dismay. So many similar eccen-
even worse. 2s4
The State Barge.
Beside this sacred stone, resting upon a
platform, is the state barge formerly used
by King Mindon Min and Thebaw, his son,
IN navigating a moat which surrounds the
walls OF the fortified city. 1t is a broad
stream Of water fed by many springs and
abounding with fish, and at several places
us service Is covered with y the circular
leaves and flowers of the white lotus which
are rooted In the bottom. One of the fire.
quent amusements of the king was to be
rowed about this moat sitting with his ia
vorite wife upon platform In the stern of
boat which the people thought was made
OF gold. And after the British occupation
the royal barge was brought out here and
placed among the t.FouFa Hundred and
FIFTY Pagodas. where the, fierce heat of
the sun warped and cracked it and it turn
ed out to be only ordinary teak wood gild-
ed. The interior of the boat is covered with
a mosaic of mirrors and the bow and stern
are exauisitely carved. 1t resembles the
imperial barges of ancient Rome
The gates of the Enclosure are covered
with carvings but they, too, have warped.
and, like everything else, are going to
pieces. The ground is strewn with broken
fragments of marble images, headless. arm
less. legless and minus fingers and toes
which have been carried away as souvenirs
by foreign vandals.
Near by Gre the ruins of 81 he Incompa-
rable Pagoda,' which was the finest in the
world. but was destroyed by fire in 1892
The rubbish has never been cleared away.
Some Of the columns are still standing and
piles of warped galvanized iron. of which
the roof was made, still lie where they fell
.curled up by the heat of the fire. This
pagoda was largely built of glass and must
have been a curious structure.
A Gilded Monastery.
Across the road is the oldest and the most
interesting monastery in Mandalay. which
is occupied by the Buddhist archbishop. 1t
is covered all over. inside and out, with.
heavy gold leaf and is surrounded by small
scribes and assistants of the bishop reside.
A very cordial young priest met US at the
door and mOtioned US to enter He held
primer in his hand, from which he was
lication such as is used by beginners In our
primary schools. Each page contained
rude Illustration of some familiar object
with a few lines of plain black print below.
AS took the book he pointed out the les
son of the day, which read:
Ann has doll and dog. Ann puts the
doll on the dog. The dog loves Ann. Does
Ann love the dog?'
The monastery is one vast room, cover
ing not less than 80 feet square, and the
roof, which is bewildering mass Of carvr
ing, rises like a pyramid to the height of
hundred feet. Every inch Of the surface
is gilded. although in places the gold has
peeled of. There were no partitions ex
cept movable screens, by which the interior
is divided into accommodations for dozen
or more priests. the archbishop and his sub
ordinates. Each has a narrow bed and other
simple furniture. standing upon mating
of straw. Everything looks neat and well
kept. and was monkish enough in the abb
sence Of comforts and Injuries. Piled upon
the SuclNoS Vi lOIiS DOOkCaSeS are MANU-
scripts and printed volumes, which l sup
pose are the archepiscopal library. The
bishop is said to be very learned man,
and as / told you the other day, has only
recently been elected primate of the Budd-
hist church of Burma. The tomb of the
late archbishop is in the grounds Of the
monastery. w Sgif
The Arrakan.
There are dozen or more pagodas in
Mandalay which have been erected from
time to time by kings ana other rich and
powerful men in Burma in order to '.ac-
quire merit with the gods About two
miles is one called the GArrakan, which,
next to the shwe Dagon Pagoda at RAN
COON, is the most sacred and popular tenn
pie In Burma. and 1t is always crowded
with pilgrims and worshipera 1t is sur
rounded by a large courtyard, and entered
by four gates. which are guarded by huge
"deogryphs," uncouth monsters made OF
brick and plaster and painted so as to make
them look as hideous as possible. They are
unlike any living thing, and represent what
the imagination of the Burmese has placed
at the gates of heaven
The temple Is approached through long
corridors lined on either side with shops at
which offerings of all sorts are offered for
sale And In the center is a colossal brass
image of Buddha, which, according to ira
dftion. was cast as long ago as the year
1IG A. D. by the King Of Arrakan. 1t was
cast in three separate pieces which were
sold la ftrnrs v,xyf