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Mandalay is the largest city in Myanmar after Yangon. Its history dates back to 1857, when King Mindon founded Mandalay as the new Burmese capital, replacing nearby Amarapura. It happened in accordance with a tradition in which the Buddha was supposed to have visited the mountain Mandalay Hill and predicted a new capital at the foot of the mountain in the year 1857.
Mandalay is the latest city to have been a royal residence in the country. That status stopped with England’s conquest of the area in 1885. Today, Mandalay is a city of millions with several attractions, not least of which go back to the time as the country’s capital.
In addition to these sights, Mandalay is also a large city in Myanmar with many shopping opportunities and places to eat, which, among other things, are located in the modern city center, which is found southwest of the Mandalay Palace area. This is also where the city’s railway station is located.
Mandalay is also a good starting point for trips in the area, which can be to the previous capital Amarapura. It can also be worth seeing along the Irrawady River, which runs immediately west of Mandalay. Sailings on this can go to nearby Mingun, and you can also go on a longer cruise to, for example, Bagan.
Mandalay Palace is a magnificent palace that was built in 1857-1859 as the last residence of the Burmese monarchs. It happened as part of King Mindon’s establishment of Mandalay as the new and royal capital of the country. The palace managed to be the residence of the country’s last two kings; in addition to King Mindon, it was King Thibaw who ruled until 1885.
The palace area was laid out as the absolute center of the city and the country. A two kilometer long wall with a 64 meter wide and 4.5 meter deep moat was built around the palace complex and the surrounding areas of a total of 413 hectares, which can still be seen in Mandalay’s town plan and streetscape. Along the wall, which forms a square from above, three gates were built on each side, and the total of 12 gates represented the twelve astrological signs.
Above the gates there are fine constructions with many roof levels. Above the middle gates used by the royals, seven roof levels were built, while the others had five. There were originally five bridges over the moat; one at each of the middle gates and one to the southwest, where, for example, the dead were carried out of the palace grounds. The wall was built with a thickness of 3 meters at the bottom and approximately 1.5 meters at the top. Along the wall and towards the moat, 48 bastions with golden spiers were built; one for every 169 meters with placement on the wall.
The palace itself was largely constructed from materials moved by elephant from the former capital of Amarapura. It was a necessity after the lost war against the British in 1852, when Burma lost a lot of land and economic power. When the palace was completed in 1859, it was, however, an impressive structure that both then and throughout the British era stood as a symbol of freedom and independence.
After the British conquest of Mandalay in 1885, the palace was set up as the military base Fort Dufferin. On that occasion, a number of effects were brought to museums in London, and the British also made changes such as the new construction of two bridges over the moat, which allowed the passage of more soldiers and materials to Fort Dufferin. Virtually the entire facility was lost during World War II, and the current buildings are a reconstruction that began in 1989.
The reconstruction was based on recreating the buildings and the atmosphere of King Mindon’s palace. The building methods and the materials used were different than in the mid-1800s. For example, some concrete was used for the buildings and metal for the roofs; originally it was built in teak.
Today, when you visit the palace far behind the moat, you come from the east to the palace’s clock tower, the Clock Tower, from which the time was announced by means of a drum and a gong gong every three hours. The clockwork was powered by water and divided into four parts for each twelve hours. Each part consisted of a water vessel with a brass bowl with a hole of a size that emptied the vessel in exactly three hours.
North of the bell tower are several mausoleums, the best known of which is King Mindon’s tombstone. He died in 1878 and his mausoleum was built by the succeeding King Thibaw. Around Mindon’s grave there are monuments to three of his more than 50 wives.
Immediately south of the bell tower you can see the Relic Tower, whose Burmese name means Tooth Relic Tower. It contains no relics, but was erected as part of traditional palace decor. The tower itself is fine and a classic example of Burmese architecture; at the bottom an ornamented foundation, a square plinth building and at the top a reliquary chamber with a multi-part roof above.
Further to the west is the actual complex of palace buildings, rebuilt as in King Mindon’s time. In the large area, you can see various highlights, starting at the large audience hall at the entrance. The audience hall is located south-north and has a length of 77 metres. This is where the king sat when there were audiences.
To the southeast of the complex itself is the Watch Tower, which was not destroyed during World War II. The tower stands as it did in the 1800s, and was once used by the king and queen as a lookout tower. It was also said that Queen Supayalat watched from the tower as British troops captured Mandalay in November 1885.
There were a total of eight thrones around the palace, and the most important and most beautifully decorated was the Lion Throne, a replica of which can be seen today in the palace. Among the other thrones were the Elephant Throne, the Peacock Throne and the Lily Throne.
You can also see the Glass Palace building, which houses the largest suites in the complex. It is believed to have been King Mindon’s favorite place in the residence, and the interior is divided by a wooden wall into two parts. In the eastern of the two rooms is the Bitronen, where King Mindon lay in public view after his death in 1878. The western room was King Mindon’s private room and also his bedroom.
Mandalay Hill is a 240 meter high mountain northeast of the center of the city of Mandalay. A number of monasteries and pagodas are located here, and the mountain has been a place of pilgrimage for several centuries. It has also given its name to the city of Mandalay.
Among the buildings on Mandalay Hill is the hermit U Khanti’s place; here relics of the Buddha were kept from 1923 and a few decades onwards. You can also see a large statue of Buddha further up on Mandalay Hill. The statue points to the city of Mandalay, which, according to one tradition, was foreseen by the Buddha himself.
Buddha is said to have visited the site and predicted that a great city would be built at the foot of the mountain in the Buddhist year 2400, which corresponds to 1856-1857. Buddha must have seen that a great king would build the city, and it was King Mindon who founded Mandalay in 1857.
The best way to visit Mandalay Hill is by taking one of the four covered staircases that can be taken from the city up the mountain from the south, southeast, west and north respectively. Along the stairs there is an opportunity to sit down, and from the top of Mandalay Hill you are rewarded with a very nice view of the city of Mandalay.
If you take the southern staircase, which is the main staircase, you are welcomed by two large lions, which is the common form of temple entrances in Myanmar. However, you can also take a car up to the top. The ride is nice and exciting with hairpin turns, and it can be a good idea in Mandalay’s hot and humid seasons.
Mandalay Hill is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. There is a temple at the top, and especially at sunset there are many people who can enjoy the sun’s rays and reflection in the Irrawaddy river.
This is a temple famous for housing a large marble Buddha. Consecrated in 1865, the Buddha was carved from a piece of green marble quarried in Sagyin, north of Mandalay. The raw stone was transported to the temple in 13 days using the labor of thousands of men. The figure was then carved out of the stone.
The temple itself was founded by King Mindon in 1853, but it was not completed until 1878; it was due, among other things, to a rebellion in the 1860s, which put an end to the construction. The temple was initially inspired by the Ananda Temple in Bagan; without, however, ending up looking like this.
Sandamuni Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa that was initiated by King Mindon in 1874. It was done in memory of the king’s younger brother, Kanaung Mintha, who along with princes Malun, Saku and Maingpyin were killed during a rebellion in 1866.
The stupa contains the tombs of all the four slain princes, and here is also a large iron Buddha from 1802. The buildings around the central chedi are mainly 1,774 small stupas that stand symmetrically and orderly in the area. The stupas are made of marble and contain all the scriptures related to the Tripitaka, which are the sacred scriptures of the Buddhists.
King Mindon also built the great Kuthodaw Pagoda, the centerpiece of which is a classic Buddhist stupa. The stupa is 57 meters high and made up of lower terraces with a gilded top above. The inspiration comes from the Shwezigon Pagoda, which was built in Bagan in about the year 1100. In addition to the stupa, there are an impressive 730 small stupa buildings that contain what is called the world’s largest book.
King Mindon wanted to mark the canon of sacred Buddhist scriptures, the so-called Tripitaka, by writing each page as large stone tablets. The work, which occupies 729 tablets with text on both sides, was completed from 1860 to 1868, and each tablet was given its own stupa. The last stupa contains a tablet with a description of how this work was realized.
Atumashi Monastery is a monastery that King Mindon founded and built in 1857 as one of the larger facilities in the new Burmese capital. The monastery building was constructed in teak wood and in a design that differed from traditional Burmese architecture by not having the commonly used roof structure. Instead, the roof is almost entirely made up of terraces.
The monastery burned down in 1890, where the nine-metre high Buddha also went up in smoke. It was until 1996 that Atumashi Monastery was rebuilt in the appearance of King Mindon’s time.
The Golden Palace in Mandalay is the name of a monastery whose building history is quite interesting. The beautiful construction was originally part of the royal palace in the city of Amarapura, and it was King Mindon who moved both this building and the rest of the palace to Mandalay from 1857.
In Mandalay Palace, the building formed part of the so-called Glass Palace, which was the king’s private quarters. After King Mindon’s death in 1878, King Thibaw moved the building to its current location, believing it to be haunted by King Mindon’s spirit. It took a few years to rebuild the building on its current site.
King Thibaw turned the place into a monastery, and at the same time, unaware of the 2nd World War devastation in the 20th century, he ensured that one of the original teak buildings from Mandalay Palace survived for posterity. The monastery is a fine example of traditional Burmese architecture with impressive woodcarvers in the teak wood used.
One can see a number of finely carved figures, which are partly Burmese and partly European; for example, there are angels from both parts of the world, and they differ in that the Burmese ones do not have wings and are made with joined hands. This is in contrast to the European angels who are just shown with wings.
The building was originally covered with gold on large parts of the structure externally and internally. It can still be seen inside, while today the exterior is not in its former glory. However, this does not make the experience any less.
Amarapura is a city beautifully situated on the course of the Irrawaddy River south of Mandalay. Amarapura is known to have been the Burmese capital during two periods; 1783-1821 and 1842-1859. As early as 1857, King Mindon established Amarapura’s successor in the form of Mandalay to the northeast, and in 1859 his palace in the new city was completed. After this, the capital moved to Mandalay, which Amarapura administratively falls under today.
Amarapura was founded by King Bodawpaya in 1783 and today it has grown to be a major suburb of Mandalay. In Amarapura, you can still see remains of the facilities from the time as the capital and also the famous bridge, U Bein Bridge, which attracts many tourists who visit the area of Myanmar’s two former capitals.
Amarapura Palace/Amarapura Palace was a royal palace built in the decades around the year 1800; a time when the city was the Burmese capital and thus required a royal residence. The end of the palace came with King Mindon’s accession to the throne in 1857, when he moved the capital to Mandalay. In this connection, he reused the parts from the palace in Amarapura in his new capital. Today, only a few remains of the extensive historic palace can be seen. Part of the palace’s moat is still here, and you can also take a closer look at the tombs of King Bodawpaya and King Bagyidaw.
U Bein Bridge is Amarapura’s best-known attraction. It is a bridge that crosses Taungthaman Lake. The bridge was built from teak wood in the years 1849-1851, and it has an impressive length of 1.2 kilometers. The wood came from a now former palace in Inwa, and the reuse of wooden structures was not unusual in the era; for example, Amarapura’s royal palace was reused in Mandalay.
The bridge consists of 1,086 stilts in the water with planks on top. The majority of the bridge is in the original wood, but over time it has been necessary to replace some parts. Four pavilions have been built along the bridge, and there are nine places along the way where the bridge can be lifted so that boats can pass. The name U Bein Bridge comes from the mayor who had the bridge built.
You can experience a lot of traffic on and off the bridge. It concerns both tourists and local visitors, some of whom cross the lake using the bridge. There is also fishing in the lake, which is often done standing on the lake bed.
Mingun is a place located approximately ten kilometers northwest of Mandalay on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River. It is popular to sail here from Mandalay’s riverbank, which is an experience in itself with fishing, transport, bathing, football and much other daily life. The trip over the wide and shallow Irrawaddy is nice and with a good view of Mandalay Hill.
After arriving in Mingun, there are several things to see next to each other along the river, and there is also a large market along the road between the sites. On both sides of the road from the boat bridge to the sights, you can see some distinctive brick buildings that are partly ornamented and otherwise lie in ruins. It was originally two colossal lions that were supposed to mark the entrance to the temple behind, and of the lions you can see the rear parts with tails today. The statues were left in ruins by an earthquake.
In the center is Mingun Pahtodawgyi, which is a kind of foundation and thus the start of the construction of a colossal stupa, which King Bodawpaya initiated in 1790. According to the plan, the stupa should have reached a height of 150 meters, and it would have been the world’s tallest of its kind . The construction never reached higher than about 50 meters, as a prophecy was made to the superstitious King Bodawpaya that the kingdom or he himself would fall when the stupa was completed.
The king slowed down the project on purpose, and after his death it was stopped altogether. In 1839, an earthquake hit the area, and on that occasion the stupa was structurally included, which can still be seen. A staircase has been built up to the top of the distinctive and impressive building.
Immediately north of King Bodawpaya’s unfinished stupa, you can see the so-called Mingun Bell, which weighs over 90 tons. It was cast in 1808-1810 at the initiative of King Bodawpaya, who wanted it for his colossal stupa, which, unlike the bell, was never completed. Just like the stupa, the bell was also to be the world’s largest, and it was until the year 2000; this year it was surpassed by 26 tons of a bell in China.
A short distance further north from the bell is Crown Prince Bagyidaw’s beautiful monument to his late Queen Hsinbyune, who died in childbirth in 1812. The monument is named after her and is called Hsinbyume Pagoda. The monument has stood brilliantly white since its construction in 1816, and it symbolizes the Buddhist paradise.
In the center and at the top is the mountain Meru, which is surrounded by seven seas and seven mountain ranges that lay around Meru. The seas are clearly seen as waves in complete rings around the center of the monument, in which is a Buddha figure, and thereby the monument is also a temple. From the top there is a fantastic view over the area and to Mingun Pahtodawgyi.
This is a temple famous for housing a large marble Buddha. Consecrated in 1865, the Buddha was carved from a piece of green marble quarried in Sagyin, north of Mandalay. The raw stone was transported to the temple in 13 days using the labor of thousands of men. The figure was then carved out of the stone.
The temple itself was founded by King Mindon in 1853, but it was not completed until 1878; it was due, among other things, to a rebellion in the 1860s, which put an end to the construction. The temple was initially inspired by the Ananda Temple in Bagan; without, however, ending up looking like this.
Sandamuni Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa that was initiated by King Mindon in 1874. It was done in memory of the king’s younger brother, Kanaung Mintha, who along with princes Malun, Saku and Maingpyin were killed during a rebellion in 1866.
The stupa contains the tombs of all the four slain princes, and here is also a large iron Buddha from 1802. The buildings around the central chedi are mainly 1,774 small stupas that stand symmetrically and orderly in the area. The stupas are made of marble and contain all the scriptures related to the Tripitaka, which are the sacred scriptures of the Buddhists.
King Mindon also built the great Kuthodaw Pagoda, the centerpiece of which is a classic Buddhist stupa. The stupa is 57 meters high and made up of lower terraces with a gilded top above. The inspiration comes from the Shwezigon Pagoda, which was built in Bagan in about the year 1100. In addition to the stupa, there are an impressive 730 small stupa buildings that contain what is called the world’s largest book.
King Mindon wanted to mark the canon of sacred Buddhist scriptures, the so-called Tripitaka, by writing each page as large stone tablets. The work, which occupies 729 tablets with text on both sides, was completed from 1860 to 1868, and each tablet was given its own stupa. The last stupa contains a tablet with a description of how this work was realized.
Atumashi Monastery is a monastery that King Mindon founded and built in 1857 as one of the larger facilities in the new Burmese capital. The monastery building was constructed in teak wood and in a design that differed from traditional Burmese architecture by not having the commonly used roof structure. Instead, the roof is almost entirely made up of terraces.
The monastery burned down in 1890, where the nine-metre high Buddha also went up in smoke. It was until 1996 that Atumashi Monastery was rebuilt in the appearance of King Mindon’s time.
The Golden Palace in Mandalay is the name of a monastery whose building history is quite interesting. The beautiful construction was originally part of the royal palace in the city of Amarapura, and it was King Mindon who moved both this building and the rest of the palace to Mandalay from 1857.
In Mandalay Palace, the building formed part of the so-called Glass Palace, which was the king’s private quarters. After King Mindon’s death in 1878, King Thibaw moved the building to its current location, believing it to be haunted by King Mindon’s spirit. It took a few years to rebuild the building on its current site.
King Thibaw turned the place into a monastery, and at the same time, unaware of the 2nd World War devastation in the 20th century, he ensured that one of the original teak buildings from Mandalay Palace survived for posterity. The monastery is a fine example of traditional Burmese architecture with impressive woodcarvers in the teak wood used.
One can see a number of finely carved figures, which are partly Burmese and partly European; for example, there are angels from both parts of the world, and they differ in that the Burmese ones do not have wings and are made with joined hands. This is in contrast to the European angels who are just shown with wings.
The building was originally covered with gold on large parts of the structure externally and internally. It can still be seen inside, while today the exterior is not in its former glory. However, this does not make the experience any less.
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