| Show lk Z 7 J P AUDIE AUDIENCE 34 HALL OP OF ROYAL PALAU CERTAIN lady in a big american city was once heard to remark A that she had bad lived for three years in mandalay another in the same room said with evident surprise Is mandalay really a place I 1 thought it was just in a song mandalay is not only a real city but an extremely interesting one which no tourist to oriental lands can afford to miss it is the bulwark of buddhism in burma and the most truly burman city that can be found A lively american sightseer sight seer can do mandalay in two or three days t but more time could well be employed A pleasant trip for the first afternoon la Is one to the abakan pagoda in a suburb called mandalay deals in superlatives and in this pagoda is a figure said to be the largest brass image in the world except for the face it Is completely covered with gold leaf among other curios are queer armed figures and three headed elephants in steel these were brought from abakan at the time of the british occupation and after a rather varied history finally found a resting place here in recent years this pagoda has acquired much tame fame as the temporary repository of the reputed pu e rema remains ns 0 of buddha u a mandalay hill is a mornings ex piece of solid masonry in the world near it but invisible at that distance is the second largest bell in existence at certain seasons of the year these places may he be visited in a government launch hut but at other times when native sampans are the only means ol of transit the trip is not often attempted at the foot of the hill is the place where the buddhist scriptures are en shrines in tiny pagodas with a table of the law to each one there is a legend legand that these sacred books were in former times written on palm leaf and carried about in three baskets one above another on a mans head hence they were referred to as the three baskets of the law finally one king realized that some day they might be lost or destroyed so he conceived the idea of preserving the records on stone palace of theebam Thee baw A step only from religion to royalty tor for a short drive brings the traveler to the old fort with its dry moat and curiously carved gates within its walls is the palace of theebam Thee baw the last burman king the various rooms once so sacred to those of kingly rank are placarded pla carded now and the most democratic tourist may thus realize that he is in the lion throne room the kings audience chamber or the queens private apartments nothing remains of past splendor save amik jaba aa aa al e M lyl X k SOME OF THE 4 50 PAGODAS cursione and requires an early start this thia ascent of over feet is made up of a series of steps flanked with shrines at the top lives an especially holy monk who supervised the construction of the huge building recently erected created to afford a permanent mausoleum tor for the remains of buddha naturally this spot is held in high reverence by the buddhist community the temple which crowns the hill contains a big gold leaf covered wooden image standing with outstretched hand forefinger pointing towards the door it has been facetiously suggested that the gesture means you go tor for while this image was in process of construction there was a current prophecy to the effect that once it saw completion the british would leave mandalay and the old line of burman kings would be restored view from mandalay hill the view from the hill is magnificent spread out in panorama lies the whole of mandalay with its stilt raised houses and spreading trees its few church spires and its hundreds of white and gold pagodas while as a background rise the hills green black or purple in the changing light on the opposite bank of the river one can descry on a clear day he mci ngoong pagoda a huge stone ruc ture reputed to be the largest the vacant rooms with their great teak beams covered with disappearing fast goldleaf gold leaf the gaudy colored glass displays and cloudy mirrors in tarnished frames one visitor relates that as he was wandering about in one room ho he heard from another tho the strains of home sweet home executed by a young burman upon an obviously now new english mouth organ ho he could not help wondering how much that palace had been a home to its royal inmates close at hand is the kings I 1 watch tower a tall cylinder surrounded by a winding stair which leads to a summer house on oil top tills this was built in a month under pain of death the king had bad so taxed and oppressed the people that ho he feared them and dared not go out of 0 his palace grounds so in order to see what was going on in the city he had the tower built today it is still accessible to those travelers who will make the climb at their own risk the visit to the palace is not complete without a glimpse into the museum in the same grounds here are exhibited life sized effigies effi gies of thee baw and his famous warrior queen as well as courtiers in their robes of state here too are the royal palan quins quills and countless smaller relies relics of the court the feeling of the pathos of past grandeur haunts ono one as he be lea yes this place |
