Mrauk U and its dynasty A new tourist site which is becoming increasingly more popular in recent years is the old capital of Rakkhine called Mrauk-U. It was first constructed by the Rakkhine king Min Saw Mon in 1430 A.D. and remained its capital for 355 years until 1784 when the Rakkhine Kingdom ceased to exit as a separate entity and became an integral part of the Myanmar Kingdom. းးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးးး It was the English author Maurice Collis who made Mrauk-U and Rakkhine famous after his book “The land of the Great Image based on Friar Manrique’s travels in Arakan was published in 1942. The Great Image is the Maha Muni Buddha Image which is now in Mandalay, though originally it was made and venerated in this area about 15 miles from Mrauk-U. You can visit also on the hillock called Sirigutta about six miles east of Kyauktaw town. From Yangon there are daily flights to Sittway the capital of Rakkhine State. In Sittway you should visit the newly built Rakkhine State Cultural Museum and Library and the Buddhist Museum where many interesting antiquities of Rakkhine’s colorful past are on display. From Sittway to Mrauk-U you can take a boat on Kalandan River and then go into some of its tributary streams. Mrauk-U is only 45 miles from Sittway and the sea coast. It is a very pleasant river journey. If you are visiting in the winter months you can see flocks of wild geese, ducks and other migrating waterfowl. To the east of the old city is the famous Kiccapanadi stream and far away from the Lemro River. In Mrauk-U you can visit the Archaeological Museum which is near the Palace Site. This site is right in the center of Mrauk-U which was built in a strategic location by leveling three small hills. Recently the Archaeology Department has been excavating the Palace Site which was occupied by Rakkhine Kings for over 200 years. The most famous and wellworth seeing are the Shitthaung, the Andaw, The Dukkhan Thein(Sima or Ordination Hall), the Koethaung, the Kaymyetnha and the Shwe Daung pagodas. The Shitthaung or temple of the 80,000 Buddhas is a fascinating place of full of images, scenes in sculpture of Buddhist stories with the king and queens, courtiers and common people portrayed in their medieaval costumes and head-dresses, all frozen in stone throughout the ages. ............. The Andaw (meaning the tooth relic of Buddha) is a pagoda only 86 feet to the northeast of the Shitthaung pagoda. This temple is a hollow octagonal building made of pure sandstone blocks, there are two internal concentric passages, with a prayer hall on the east. Visitors should see the frescoes giving detailed pictorial portrayals of life in the Mrauk-U court, these frescoes are found in Laymyetnha and the Shwe Daung Pagoda. Laymyetnha pagoda was built by King Min Saw Mon in 1430 A.D. as one the original pagodas at the time of the founding of Mrauk-U. The name of the Pagoda means “Four faced” as there are four entrances to this square sandstone structure with a central solid stupa 80 feet high. There are 28 Buddha images as mentioned in the Sambuddha scripture. The Shwe Daung pagoda or the Golden Hill Pagoda is also believed to have been built by King Minbin between the years 1531-1553. It is a landmark pagoda as it is the tallest in this area and can be seen as far away as 20 miles from the main Kaladan River. It is a solid stupa with a circular base. Standing on a plain of rice fields is the Koethaung Pagoda, the name means 90,000 and probably signified the number of Buddha images it is supposed to contain. It is the biggest pagoda in the Mrauk-U area. Like Shitthaung pagoda, this pagoda is also a massive fortress-like structure built with stone walls and terraces. There are 108 smaller pagodas surrounding it, all made of sandstone. Unlike some of the other temples, not only sandstone, but bricks were also used in this pagoda. Visitors should not miss seeing the Ordination Hall, Htukkan Thein and the exquisite little library the Pitaka Taik. Htukkan Thein is located about 300 feet to the northwest of Shitthaung pagoda. There is a long vaulted passageway which leads to the central shrine room which is 15 feet in height. This room is said to be place where the Buddhist Archbishop used to sit to discuss religious affairs with Senior Monks. The little library or Pitaka Taik, the Repository for the Buddhist scriptures, was built in 1591. Built entirely of stone there are lovely designs on the outer walls making it look like a tin jeweled casket shape like a blooming lotus. If you are interested in new, spectacular places of historical interest and natural beauth Mrauk-U is the place. Mrauk-U is now ready for tourists who are starting to come singly or in groups. Rakkhine region is now welcoming visitors from all over the world, and will continue to open up more as the road connections are all in place. Maha Muni Shrine at Kyauktaw The Maha Muni Shrine in Kyauktaw today is an interesting place to visit even without its main image. It is on a small hillock surrounded by three low walls on three successive terraces, the main shrine built on the highest platform. Visitors should see the huge banyan tree with a kind of altar in front where offerings of flowers and incense can be made. It is supposed to be the place where the Buddha rested while his image was being cast. Some of the local people maintain that the original image Maha Muni lies buried in a ruined cave under the banyan tree. In the main shrine on the topmost level are three very old stone images of Buddha. The central image four feet, two inched high is known as Maha Muni’s brother. It is a peaceful quiet place about six miles east of Kyauktaw town and about 25 miles north of Mrauk-U.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 08:58:08 +0000
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