101. THE ROAD TO MANDALAY

By the old Moulmein pagoda, Lookin' lazy at the sea

There's a Burma girl a-settin, and I know she thinks o' me

For the wind is in the palm trees, and the temple-bel....

Is they say Come you back you British soldier, come you back to Mandalay

Come you back to Mandalay, where the old flotilla lay

Can't you 'ear their paddles thunkin's from Rangoon to Mandalay.

On the road to Mandalay, where the flyin' fishes play

An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay..

Rudyard Kipling 1890

This is the 1st verse of a lengthy 6 verse poem, adapted into a song sung by Frank Sinatra in a Big Band tempo as befits his time and more recently, by Robbie Williams in a raucous version.

The Brits (and I too) have associated Mandalay with romanticism. Mine was based more on a novel I've read by Daphne du Maurier. The most romantic thing on this trip was having dinner under the stars on the hotel's lawn next to a replica of the ruins of a stupa - with my girlfriend. We enjoyed our girl talk nevertheless.

Like something right out of India complete with  storyboard

The Shwedagon Pagoda at dusk - Yangon's iconic landmark. Shwe in their language is gold and it's everywhere

The topmost summit of Shwedagon Pagoda is encrusted with diamonds and rubies...so we are told...there's a large photo to prove it! 








The 'umbrellas' of most pagodas have been rebuilt into something golden, reason given has been the old ones toppled during some earthquakes! 

This country is so extremely rich in gemstones they can decorate their pagodas so fancy, turning them into huge attractions for their people, the Shwedagon in the heart of the capital Yangon - the former Rangoon - is marketed as a must visit pilgrimage spot at least once in their people's lifetime. Sounds like Mecca. Sigh! What poverty? There isn't any. What oppression?
 

Chaukhtatkyi Pagoda has the prettiest looking buddha image complete with full make-up

 













I liked most the beautifully crafted robe with glass work details, on its feet, a sutra of some sort - as in Thailand and Tibet, Buddhism here is corrupted by big bucks. Their night life is still tame without the sleaze of Thailand's

Ceiling details - the Burmese do fine art work.  From lacquer to jade, marble and woodcarving, from tapestries to embroideries - these are a creative artistic people

 

Korean Buddhists chanting sutras - such a change from the hordes of fanatical christians on their endless retreats to Singapore and Batam Island

    

There are 7 such altars for the 7 days of the week. This was a photo opportunity - bathe the naga (dragon) that guards and protects those born on the 6th day.

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The entrance to the Ananda Temple (1090) is guarded by 2 deities. One look tells me there's no mistake about their very Hindu eyes, dress and headgear. It seems the king of that period had close ties with Indian kings and merchants

 

More golden monstrosities - there are several buddha images in the Ananda Temple, many were small, simple ones rebuilt into huge golden ones, the common excuse was, they were badly damaged after earthquakes! 

wall niches - each housing a buddha image with different hand mudras

a huge solid teak carved door. Many older pagodas have arched ceilings and remind me of cathedrals, like this one here. Buddhism is older than Christianity...

Like a gothic medieval castle

The Ananda Temple in Bagan - the old and the newly added.....

It's new head dress













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Pagoda and stupa relics are scattered across a 42 sq km plain that includes 1000s of sites. Quite a few looked newish...

Myanmar had applied for UNESCO World Heritage status for Bagan but was rejected due to 'too much tampering' to the buildings. This was obvious close-up

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Umin Thounze Monastery on Myanmar Hill, Sagaing, where I saw the sun set over Mandalay. 
The most attractive feature of this place was the glass work which covered almost every inch of the walls and pillars

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 Kuthodaw Pagoda, Mandalay



















...there are 729 of these Pitaka pagodas each housing a marble slab......





...on which is inscribed the entire Buddhist canon in Pali. This place is best known as a center for Buddhist studies

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The Golden Palace Monastery - Shwe nan daw Kyaung - is older than most of the rest I saw. It's carved entirely out of wood. 

Known as Mandalay Palace before, it's now a monastery but I didn't see many monks

The Mahamuni Temple below, is decadent. The layers of gold leaf stuck on this Buddha image over many years is 2 tons worth of gold, so much so, the image is out of shape. Talk about obesity...It's in the cities of Yangon and Mandalay that such ostentatious wealth is displayed for that's where the business people are, outside of these cities there's a lot less of such mousetraps.

 

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U Bein bridge, outside Mandalay, is the longest teakwood footbridge in the world, spanning Taungthaman Lake.
Like the Tonle Sap of Cambodia, (Post 93) this is a floodplain - farmers till the land in summer and during the monsoons the same farmers become fishermen when the land around the bridge is flooded by the Ayeyarwady River (the Irrawaddy)

 

The bridge in the day and at sunset...

Feeding time at Mahagandayon Monastery, Amarapura, Mandalay. 

It houses more than a 1000 monks. This is a daily ritual. Donors are local business people and wealthy families. Many are Sri Lankans running businesses here. The  Lankans have a long tradition of trading and religious ties with Myanmar

clay water pots for drinking water. They're covered in moss - the sieve hanging there says New!
It's for community use and are everywhere





snowmen in a public park being decorated for the coming holiday season...

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Myanmar's been quite a surprise. They have everything here. Their supermarkets are well stocked. There's personal freedom. It's clean and green and safe. Eating places are full of locals. They aren't doing badly. Not having political freedom is an issue only to the Americans it appears.....

I'm glad I'm visiting before the country opens up fully to foreign investments. Very soon there will be fancy condos, industrial parks, megamalls and traffic jams. And of course, Christian groups looking to 'invest' too.

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The making of lacquerware. I have to record this for posterity as I fear this will vanish once the country opens up more and more.

Start with very thin pliable bamboo strips to weave into a bowl or plate

 
















Horsehair is interwoven into some models for a more rustic ethnic raw look. These designs have little or no gold leaf but are equally beautiful














Resin is applied before several layers of lacquer go over that

Designs are etched onto the pieces. Others are painted on

Gold leaf applied on a tray
It's a labourious process with multiple steps

...the final step is to wash away any excess gold...the water is then passed through a sieve and the excess gold is reused...

Manual labour - they beat the gold leaf to a flat tissue. Many layers are packed between deer skin and it's beaten till they're extremely thin. Gold must be cheap here as a thick wad of these tissues sell for so little. The locals must buy lots as they stick it on nearly every inch of their buddha images

  

The powder used on their faces (thanaka) come from the juice of these branches. It's an all-purpose sunblock and mosquito repellant, cosmetic all-in-one obtained by grinding one end mixed with a little water on a grinding stone. It felt cool on my face.

 

These marionettes have a strong Javanese influence in their costumes but it's probably very typically Myanmar. Some may say it's more Thai. It's hard to tell what with the close links amongst peoples in the region back in the old days.

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Long before I came across this quote from Osho, I had realised this. When I started this journal in 2004, under its title I included - A Traveller is but a Pilgrim on a Quest.

We go out as tourists and gradually become travellers. Traveller eventually becomes a seeker. Travelling is essential to one's inner journey. Travelling teaches that which no classroom or the four walls of a house can teach....Osho

I'm an invitation to take a courageous jump into the Ocean of Life. Lose yourself for that is the only way to find yourself - Osho, The Invitation