Mingun ( ) is a village tract in Sagaing Township of Sagaing Region, north-west Myanmar,
Mingun Pahtodawgyi
The Mingun temple is a monumental uncompleted
stupa begun by King
Bodawpaya in 1790. It was not completed, due to an
astrologer claiming that, once the temple was finished, the king would die.
The completed stupa would have been the largest in the world at . Huge cracks are visible on the structure from the earthquake of 23 March 1839.
[ Burma:Preservation and restoration of national monuments and artifacts at selected sites, pages 5 and 9, UNESCO, Paris, 1984.] Like many large pagodas in Myanmar, a
pondaw paya or working model of the stupa can be seen nearby.
King Bodawpaya also had a gigantic bell cast to go with his huge stupa, the Mingun Bell weighing 90 tons, and is today the largest ringing bell in the world. The weight of the bell in Burmese measurement, is 55,555 viss or peiktha (1 viss = 1.63 kg), handed down as a mnemonic " Min Hpyu Hman Hman Pyaw", with the consonants representing the number 5 in Burmese astronomy and numerology.
Hsinbyume Pagoda
Just a couple of hundred yards from the great stupa and bell lies the beautiful white Hsinbyume or Myatheindan Pagoda with a distinctive architectural style modelled after the mythical Mount Meru (
Myinmo taung), built in 1816 by Bodawpaya's grandson and successor
Bagyidaw and dedicated to the memory of his first consort Princess Hsinbyume (Lady of the White Elephant, granddaughter of Bodawpaya, 1789–1812) who died in childbirth.
Image:Burma08.jpg|Hsinbyume or Myatheindan pagoda in Mingun
Image:Irrawaddy@Mingun.JPG|River Irrawaddy at Mingun
Image:Myanmar Irrawaddy Minguin 200302130104.jpg|Mingun pagoda
Image:Mingun 105.JPG|Mingun view
File:Mingun Pagoda.JPG|Mingun Pagoda
File:Mingun Bell 2016.JPG|Mingun Bell
File:Settawya Pagode.jpg|The Settawya Pagoda in Mingun.
See also
External links
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Wanderings in Burma by George W Bird, 1897 F J Bright & Son, London, pp 316A, 318, 318A, 320A inc. old photos of Mingun by Signor Beaton of Mandalay
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Col Henry Yule's Remarks on the Senbyu Pagoda at Mengun, 1869 SOAS
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The Art and Culture of Burma: The Konbaung Period - Amarapura Dr. Richard M. Cooler, Northern Illinois University
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A Trip to Mingun Globosapiens, December 26, 2006
