Maha Mrat Mu Ni Stone Image (DYANNYAWADI-Kyauktaw)
" Maha Mrat Mu Ni Stone Image "
Maha Mrat Mu Ni Stone Image (former site in Tong Oo village, Mrauk U township), donated by Chandra Suriya, 6th century BC..!!The well-known traditional Saying in both Arakan and Burma...........
..." thazon pan-khaing ta-mraing-mraing Rakhaing Payar paunn"
."hle' win yoe than ta nyan nyan Bagan Payar Paunn"
indicates that total number of Buddhist pagodas in Rakhine-pray (Arakan) is up to more than six milli.Religious harmony in the independent-sovereign Arakan Kingdom was remarkable. Annual contributions of the Arakanese Kings to all religious are acknowledged their respect to secularism though they all are authentic Buddhists. !!!!!
MAHAMUNI SHRINE : (DYANNYAWADI-Kyauktaw)
According to Rakhine chronicles, Lord Buddha in his life time visited the city of Dhannyawadi (Grain Blessed) in 554 B.C. The Rakhine king Sandar Suriya (Candrasuriya-Sun Moon) requested Lord Buddha to leave the image of Himself. This Buddhist shrine is one of the most revered sites in the whole country as the Maha Muni Buddha Image is believed to have been cast in bronze and five kinds of precious metals by Sakka or Indra the Lord of the Celestial Realm.After casting the Great Image Maha Muni (Great Sage) Lord Buddha breathed upon it which resembled the exact likness of the Blessed One. Maha Muni was worshipped by Rakhine kings for centuries and regarded as a protector of the country. In 1784 A.D , Rakhineland was conquered by king Bodaw Paya and the Great Image was carried across the Rakhine Yoma to Amarapura (now Mandalay).
In the main shrine on the topmost level are three very old stone images of Buddha. The central image four feet, two inches high is known as Maha Muni's brother. The shrine is a peaceful, quiet place about 10 km east of Kyauktaw town and about 40 km north of Mrauk U. It is on a small hillock called Sirigutta surrounded by three low walls on three successive terraces, the main shrine built on the highest platform. On the lowest platform is an old library built by king Minkhari in AD 1439; it is a rare example of a library from this early period Also a large tank dug by king Sandasuriya can be seen in the vicinity. In the year 1900, a rich man from Akyab (Sittwe), U Rai Kyaw Thu cast an image and installed it at the former place of the Great Image. Up to this day, Maha Muni site has become the most venerated site in Myanmar and the former glory has again been restored due to the new highway linking Yangon and Sittwe. Mahamuni Site now can be reached by car either from Sittwe or Mrauk U. Throughout the year, pilgrams flocked to visit from all parts of Rakhine State as well as devotees from different parts of Myanmar. There is a small museum near the shrine which displays some oldest stone sculptures in Myanmar. The Maharmuni festival falls in the month of Tabaung (March).
!!The well-known traditional Saying in both Arakan and Burma "thazon pan-khaing ta-mraing-mraing Rakhaing phara paung" indicates that total number of Buddhist pagodas in Rakhine-pray (Arakan) is up to more than six milli.Religious harmony in the independent-sovereign Arakan Kingdom was remarkable. Annual contributions of the Arakanese Kings to all religious are acknowledged their respect to secularism though they all are authentic Buddhists.
"The Mahamuni Sculptures"
If we travel from Akyab, the capital of the Arakan State, north wards by boat along the Kaladan River, we reach Kyauktaw town. The town is about 60 miles up the river from Akyab and is situated on the left bank of the river.
On the right bank, opposite Kyauktaw town is the famous Selargiri Hill. According to tradition, Gautama Buddha journeyed to Arakan and landed on this hill first. At present, there is a standing Buddha image on the top of the hill pointing out to his disciples the various places in which his former lives had been passed. There is also one Buddha image in a reclining posture (parinirvana scene) and two caityas (one old type and the other new type). The entire view of the hill with these images and caityas is very scenic. This hill commanded a view of the rice plains towards Dhanyawadi which is situated about 5 miles east of the hill. See Chapter III for deion of the city of Dhanyawadi.
Sirigutta hill, on which the Mahamuni shrine was built, lies on the northeast corner of the site once occupied by the ancient city of Dhanyawadi, whose walls are still traceable at present. The Mahamuni precincts occupied the whole hill which is leveled into three flat surfaces. These surfaces are surrounded with square-cut blocks of granular sandstone forming three enclosures. The lowest enclosure, which has an area of 500’ x 580’, is the base where there is a reservoir, known as Candasuriya reservoir, fed by a perennial spring The second enclosure is thirty feet up and has an area of 220’ x 240’. The third enclosure is again thirty feet up enclosing the leveled summit on which is built the shrine. It has an area of 116’ x 155’. There are a number of sculptures standing on these platforms. At the four cardinal points of the lowest enclosure are gates from which covered step-ways led to the shrine.It is the oldest and most revered Buddhist site in Arakan.
In the central chamber of this shrine is the throne on which the Mahamuni image was once placed. The image was removed in 1784 to Mandalay. According to tradition, as well as the palmleaf manuSappadanapakarana, Lord Buddha, while sojourning in Dhanyawadi, consented to the request of the king Candasuriya to leave an image of Him. The king collected the necessary metals and with the help of Sakra and Visvakarman made the image which was said to be exactly like the Blessed One. The Blessed One breathed upon the Image to impart life to the Image. King Candasuriya placed the Image on a throne in the shrine which he built on top of the Sirigutta hill. The image faced west where lay the places of the Four Principal Incidents of the Master’s life.
The entire religious history of Buddhistic Arakan centres around this “younger brother” of Gautama. The Image was believed by the people to be the original resemblance of Gautama taken from life and was very highly venerated. Pilgrims have for centuries come from various Buddhist countries to pay their devotions at the foot of the Image.
According to Arakanese historical records the shrine was destroyed by fire or by pilferage on many occasions throughout the centuries and was again and again rebuilt by pious kings of these centuries.
Of the original shrine, nothing remains except the three walls surrounding the three flat surfaces of the Sirigutta hill made of square cut blocks of granular sandstone, a reservoir at the southeast corner of the first enclosure, a number of stone sculptures standing along the terraces, and a few original architectural fragments.
The stone sculptures are the earliest group of specimen of the Buddhist Art of Ancient Arakan so far found. They consist of single images, dials and triads. They are all made out of the same type of fine -grained red sandstones and the sculptures are rather similar in design and dresses. The sizes of the slabs having single images are almost the same whereas the slabs having dials and triads are a little smaller..In order to interpret these broken and braised images found in the shrine, one should first of all determine what stage the Buddhism has reached in Arakan at the period of making of these images. As we know the approximate date of making of these imges as the 4th or the 5th century A.D., Bodhisattva concept is already in existence ever since very early times of Buddhism. The Bodhisattvas here, however, should not be mixed up with the Bodhisattvas mentioned in advanced Mahayana Suttras after the advent of the doctrine of Three Bodies and the theory of Five Dhyani Buddhas..
by zinyaw17
Maha Mrat Mu Ni Stone Image (former site in Tong Oo village, Mrauk U township), donated by Chandra Suriya, 6th century BC..!!The well-known traditional Saying in both Arakan and Burma...........
..." thazon pan-khaing ta-mraing-mraing Rakhaing Payar paunn"
."hle' win yoe than ta nyan nyan Bagan Payar Paunn"
indicates that total number of Buddhist pagodas in Rakhine-pray (Arakan) is up to more than six milli.Religious harmony in the independent-sovereign Arakan Kingdom was remarkable. Annual contributions of the Arakanese Kings to all religious are acknowledged their respect to secularism though they all are authentic Buddhists. !!!!!
MAHAMUNI SHRINE : (DYANNYAWADI-Kyauktaw)
According to Rakhine chronicles, Lord Buddha in his life time visited the city of Dhannyawadi (Grain Blessed) in 554 B.C. The Rakhine king Sandar Suriya (Candrasuriya-Sun Moon) requested Lord Buddha to leave the image of Himself. This Buddhist shrine is one of the most revered sites in the whole country as the Maha Muni Buddha Image is believed to have been cast in bronze and five kinds of precious metals by Sakka or Indra the Lord of the Celestial Realm.After casting the Great Image Maha Muni (Great Sage) Lord Buddha breathed upon it which resembled the exact likness of the Blessed One. Maha Muni was worshipped by Rakhine kings for centuries and regarded as a protector of the country. In 1784 A.D , Rakhineland was conquered by king Bodaw Paya and the Great Image was carried across the Rakhine Yoma to Amarapura (now Mandalay).
In the main shrine on the topmost level are three very old stone images of Buddha. The central image four feet, two inches high is known as Maha Muni's brother. The shrine is a peaceful, quiet place about 10 km east of Kyauktaw town and about 40 km north of Mrauk U. It is on a small hillock called Sirigutta surrounded by three low walls on three successive terraces, the main shrine built on the highest platform. On the lowest platform is an old library built by king Minkhari in AD 1439; it is a rare example of a library from this early period Also a large tank dug by king Sandasuriya can be seen in the vicinity. In the year 1900, a rich man from Akyab (Sittwe), U Rai Kyaw Thu cast an image and installed it at the former place of the Great Image. Up to this day, Maha Muni site has become the most venerated site in Myanmar and the former glory has again been restored due to the new highway linking Yangon and Sittwe. Mahamuni Site now can be reached by car either from Sittwe or Mrauk U. Throughout the year, pilgrams flocked to visit from all parts of Rakhine State as well as devotees from different parts of Myanmar. There is a small museum near the shrine which displays some oldest stone sculptures in Myanmar. The Maharmuni festival falls in the month of Tabaung (March).
!!The well-known traditional Saying in both Arakan and Burma "thazon pan-khaing ta-mraing-mraing Rakhaing phara paung" indicates that total number of Buddhist pagodas in Rakhine-pray (Arakan) is up to more than six milli.Religious harmony in the independent-sovereign Arakan Kingdom was remarkable. Annual contributions of the Arakanese Kings to all religious are acknowledged their respect to secularism though they all are authentic Buddhists.
"The Mahamuni Sculptures"
If we travel from Akyab, the capital of the Arakan State, north wards by boat along the Kaladan River, we reach Kyauktaw town. The town is about 60 miles up the river from Akyab and is situated on the left bank of the river.
On the right bank, opposite Kyauktaw town is the famous Selargiri Hill. According to tradition, Gautama Buddha journeyed to Arakan and landed on this hill first. At present, there is a standing Buddha image on the top of the hill pointing out to his disciples the various places in which his former lives had been passed. There is also one Buddha image in a reclining posture (parinirvana scene) and two caityas (one old type and the other new type). The entire view of the hill with these images and caityas is very scenic. This hill commanded a view of the rice plains towards Dhanyawadi which is situated about 5 miles east of the hill. See Chapter III for deion of the city of Dhanyawadi.
Sirigutta hill, on which the Mahamuni shrine was built, lies on the northeast corner of the site once occupied by the ancient city of Dhanyawadi, whose walls are still traceable at present. The Mahamuni precincts occupied the whole hill which is leveled into three flat surfaces. These surfaces are surrounded with square-cut blocks of granular sandstone forming three enclosures. The lowest enclosure, which has an area of 500’ x 580’, is the base where there is a reservoir, known as Candasuriya reservoir, fed by a perennial spring The second enclosure is thirty feet up and has an area of 220’ x 240’. The third enclosure is again thirty feet up enclosing the leveled summit on which is built the shrine. It has an area of 116’ x 155’. There are a number of sculptures standing on these platforms. At the four cardinal points of the lowest enclosure are gates from which covered step-ways led to the shrine.It is the oldest and most revered Buddhist site in Arakan.
In the central chamber of this shrine is the throne on which the Mahamuni image was once placed. The image was removed in 1784 to Mandalay. According to tradition, as well as the palmleaf manuSappadanapakarana, Lord Buddha, while sojourning in Dhanyawadi, consented to the request of the king Candasuriya to leave an image of Him. The king collected the necessary metals and with the help of Sakra and Visvakarman made the image which was said to be exactly like the Blessed One. The Blessed One breathed upon the Image to impart life to the Image. King Candasuriya placed the Image on a throne in the shrine which he built on top of the Sirigutta hill. The image faced west where lay the places of the Four Principal Incidents of the Master’s life.
The entire religious history of Buddhistic Arakan centres around this “younger brother” of Gautama. The Image was believed by the people to be the original resemblance of Gautama taken from life and was very highly venerated. Pilgrims have for centuries come from various Buddhist countries to pay their devotions at the foot of the Image.
According to Arakanese historical records the shrine was destroyed by fire or by pilferage on many occasions throughout the centuries and was again and again rebuilt by pious kings of these centuries.
Of the original shrine, nothing remains except the three walls surrounding the three flat surfaces of the Sirigutta hill made of square cut blocks of granular sandstone, a reservoir at the southeast corner of the first enclosure, a number of stone sculptures standing along the terraces, and a few original architectural fragments.
The stone sculptures are the earliest group of specimen of the Buddhist Art of Ancient Arakan so far found. They consist of single images, dials and triads. They are all made out of the same type of fine -grained red sandstones and the sculptures are rather similar in design and dresses. The sizes of the slabs having single images are almost the same whereas the slabs having dials and triads are a little smaller..In order to interpret these broken and braised images found in the shrine, one should first of all determine what stage the Buddhism has reached in Arakan at the period of making of these images. As we know the approximate date of making of these imges as the 4th or the 5th century A.D., Bodhisattva concept is already in existence ever since very early times of Buddhism. The Bodhisattvas here, however, should not be mixed up with the Bodhisattvas mentioned in advanced Mahayana Suttras after the advent of the doctrine of Three Bodies and the theory of Five Dhyani Buddhas..
by zinyaw17
posted by I AM ARAKANTHAR at
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