Amarapura
Amarapura was founded by Bodawpaya as his new capital in 1783 soon after he ascended to the throne but in 1823 Bagyidaw moved his court back to AVA in 1847 and then Amarapura again became the capital but in 1857 Mindon Min decided to make Mandalay the capital and the change over was completed in 1860 Amarapura was also the site for the first British embassy in Myanmar in 1795. It was founded in the first SayaDaw Ahsin in 1900.
South of Pathodawgyi the shallow Taung-tha-man Lake is crossed by a long and rickety teak bridge. During the dry season the bridge crosses dry land. U Bein was the deck of the mayor at the time of the shift from Ava and he wisely salvaged material from the deserted AVA palace to build this 1.2 km loney foot bridge. It has stood the test of time for two centuries and remains the longest teak span the world. There are now 1086 posts and 482 spans. The bridge is six farlongs, 3967 feet, 1208 meter in length. Stroll across the bridge there are five views across the lake to the Pahtodawgyi Pagoda built by king Bagyidaw in 1861and places.
Constructed in 1847 by King Bagan, it was modelled on the Longer Anada Temple at Bagan. While the pagoda does not have the perfectly vaulted roofs of thefinerdecorations of the original. it does have on excellent seated Buddha image and interesting and well preserved frescoes in the four entrance porches.
Religious bilding Zodiac Chart, scenes from everyday life are all illustrated in the frescoes. In 1979 the Kyauktawgyi was repainted in the most non Myanmar looking shade of baby blue. There are also 88 stone figure of Manussiha, half man and half leogryph all around. This shrine is noted for its frescoes to be seen in the four porches. It is some what astonishing that a little British influence has crept-in you see figures with tail coats and felt hats among the figures of the frescoes. Of special interest should be the unfinished drawing on the northern side of the pagoda in two of the porches. Kyi Thunk Khat Village or the Bronze village. There one will find the Buddha images being east in Bronze generation by generation, by craftsmen with hereditary skills. The metal actually employed is an alloy of bronze and lead. Red earth is used as basic material for the mould an then molten metal poured in through holes in the mould. Here, you will also find flourishing trade in the manufacture of gongs and combats which are exported abroad. A statue of General Aung San is known to have been cast in this village, as also the silver image for the Kaba Aye Pagoda in Yangon.
On the Ayeyawaddy bank, across from Sagaing, stand two (12th Century Pagodas ) which were built by a King of Bagan the Shwe Kyet Yet to the right and Shwe Kyet Kay to the left. Amarapura also has a Chinese joss house. When the decision was made to shift to Mandalay, the Chinese traders preferred to remain. Amarapura is noted for silk and cotton weavings, and as you wander through the buildings of the modern town you will hear the steady clackety clack of the looms. Far hundreds of years, Amarapura has had a place as an established centre for silk and cotton weaving, especially silk. The brilliant silk longy is that you see Myanmar men and women wearing, and which render a Myanmar crowd the most colourful sight in the world, come mainly from Amarapura. Appropriately, Amarapura is the location for a training institute for weavers. The Sounder's Weavig Institute, started in 1914, the institute has acquired a repulation for the excellent weavers it turns out. Stipendiary pupils learn had-loom and fancy-work, weaving by power-looms and more recently, textile printing.
The southern part of Amarapura, the pahtodawgyi Pagoda modelled on the Mahaceti of Sri Lanka. The foundation of this pagoda was laid by King Bagyidaw and his chief Queen on 2nd March 1820. The Pagoda was completed on 19th Fed 1924. The base measures 180 feets in circumference and the height also measures 180 feets. The official title of the pagoda is Maha- Vijayaramsi. The 550 (or rather 547) Jataka stories depicted on glazed plazed plaques around the plinth of this pagoda. The newly rebuilt Bagaya Monastery on the left side of the main road as enter Amarapura. This is now a grand museum rebuilt in its original style, housing hundreds of Buddha images and other antiquities. The lower floor is a pitakataik or library for old palm-leaf and paper parabaik manuscripts. Walking around to view the immortal beauty of lake Taung-tha-man, with pagodas and monasteries and other places of interest on its banks.
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