.The
Sandamuni Pagoda (also Sandamani, because it
contains the largest iron Buddha, the "Sandamani"),
or Paya, is located to the southeast of Mandalay
Hill and bears a resemblance to the nearby Kuthodaw
pagoda because of the large number of slender
whitewashed ancillary stupas on the grounds.
The pagoda complex was erected on the location
of King Mindon's provisional palace, the "Nan
Myey Bon Tha." which he used until his
permanent Royal Palace was completed in the
center of the Royal City (now Mandalay Fort).
It
was built as a memorial to King Mindon's younger half-brother,
statesman, reformer, stimulating personality and confidante,
the Crown Prince Kanaung, who had helped him seize
power from Pagan Min in 1853. Two of Mindon's sons,
Princes Myingun, (or Myint Kun) and Myin Kon Taing
disappointed in being excluded from the succession,
launched a palace revolution against their father
on June 8, 1866, and assassinated Crown Prince Kanaung
and three other princes: Malun, Saku and Pyinsi. The
princes were buried on the grounds where they died.
The royal residence was demolished the next year as
the court was moved to the new Royal Palace. In 1874,
King Mindon had the pagoda built near the graves of
the Crown Prince and the other members of the royal
family who lost their lives in the 1866 coup.
It was perchance was
a result of this coup that Mindon did not appoint
another successor until, upon his death bed in 1879,
the scheming Central Queen secured the appointment
of her weak son-in-law, Theebaw, and her daughter,
Supayalat, as successors . The unpopular regime collapsed
in the British annexation of Mandalay and Upper Burma
in 1885. / The Paya is famous one for the Iron Buddha
Sandamani cast by King Bodawpay (1782-1819) of the
Konbaung dynasty in 1802, and which King Mindon and
brought from Amarapura to his new pagoda and shrine
in 1874. This was the seventh and last of the many
journeys of the Iron Buddha, frequently moved because
of wars and the shift of capitals in the nineteenth
century. supplementary this largest solid iron Buddha
image were eighty statues of saint disciples, which
are now sheltered in mini-stupas around the pagoda.
The statue reportedly weighs 40,924.8 lbs or 18.562
metric tons. It now is covered with gold foil attached
by believers over the decades.
Additionally there are
1774 marble slabs inscribed with Commentaries and
Sub-commentaries on the Tipitaka (Pali spelling,
or Tripitaka, in Sanskrit), the "Three Baskets
of Buddha's teaching" in the Pali language.
Each is 5.5 ft high 3.5 ft wide and .5 ft thick.
Some have called the grouping "Volume II of
the World's Largest Book," in a clear reference
to the adjoining Kuthodaw Pagoda, which contains
the full text of the Tipitaka itself on 729 slabs.
The project and the housings of the slabs were the
result of the successful campaign in 1913 by the
famous Hermit of Mandalay Hill, U Khanti (or Kanti),
who also designed the iron covered causeways and
devotional halls and the book-like layout
of the tablets.
