Mandalay Hill

To get a sense of Mandalay’s pancake-flat sprawl, climb the 760ft hill that breaks it. The walk up covered stairways on the hill's southern slope is a major part of the experience – note that you'll need to go barefoot in places, as you pass through numerous temples and pagodas. The climb takes 30 minutes, but much longer if you allow for stops en route. The summit viewpoint is especially popular at sunset, when young monks converge on foreigners for language practice.

At the top of the hill is the Sutaungpyei (literally wish-fulfilling) Pagoda. A panoramic view of Mandalay from the top of Mandalay Hill alone makes it worthwhile to attempt a climb up its stairways. There are four covered stairways called saungdan leading up the hill from the south, southeast, west and north, and convenient seats of masonry work line these stairways all the way up. A one-way motor road today saves time and also makes it accessible for those who are unable to climb up the stairs, leading to an escalator and a lift to the pagoda at the summit.

For many people the 45-minute walk up Mandalay Hill for sunset is one of the highlights of a visit to the city. The usual starting point is the staircase between a large pair of chin-thé (lion-dogs) on 10th Street; there is another entrance a little further east.

Whichever route you choose, the concrete steps run uphill beneath a corrugated iron roof, lined with stalls selling drinks and souvenirs. The two routes meet just before Byar Deik Paya, from which a large standing Buddha points back the way you came. The story goes that the Buddha visited the hill and foretold that a great city would be built at its foot.

There are numerous other shrines on the way up the hill, including Ngon Minn Stupa, where the names of donors are written on the white columns. As you get higher, the crowds become thicker, particularly around sunset, but the wide terrace of Sutaungpyi Paya (“wish-granting pagoda”) at the top accommodates the mixture of pilgrims, tourists and novice monks, who are there to practise their English.

History of Mandalay Hill

During the time when Buddha was alive while on one of his visits to Myanmar, the Buddha with his disciple Ananda climbed Mandalay Hill and prophesied that a great city would be founded below the hill and also pointed the place of that future city.
Then a huge standing Buddha image was built at the place where Buddha stood, with his hand pointing to the Royal Palace. The legend has it that the Buddha, on his visit, had made a prophecy that a great city would be founded at the foot of this hill.

Climbing Mandalay Hill

For those who are fit to make the climb, it is considered[by whom?] a rewarding experience and a meritorious deed at the same time. Two gigantic[clarification needed] chinthes or leogryphs (stylised lion figures) stand guard at the southern and main approach at the foot of the hill, popularly known as the Chinthe hnakaung atet (two chinthes ascent). It is a gentle climb and there are many stops along the way, most importantly the hermit U Khanti's dazaung or hall where the Peshawar Relics ( three fragments of bone of the Gautama Buddha) were kept from 1923 until after the Second World War when they were moved to a building at the foot of the hill and no longer on display.[2] Leaving U Khanti's dazaung is by way of a tunnel lined by Hnakyeik shissu or the 28 Buddhas of the past and present worlds, or alternatively up a steep flight of steps next to the tunnel. Climbers will see plenty of stalls selling flowers, paper streamers, miniature pennants and umbrellas for the Buddha, and food and refreshment for visitors and pilgrims. All the dazaungs have frieze paintings, most of them from the late Konbaung dynasty period; there is one depicting 'Awizi ngayè (Avici Hell) in gory detail.

Farther up near the summit, a gigantic[clarification needed] standing image of the Buddha called the Shweyattaw (literally standing) or Byadeippay (prophesying) Buddha with his right hand pointing towards the city. Legend has it that the Buddha once visited the place and prophesied that in the year 2400 of the Buddhist Era a great city would be built at the foot of the hill where his teachings would flourish. One curiosity that belongs to the myth surrounding the ancient kingdom of Bagan is the so-called 'Kyanzittha's spear mark' near the top of the hill. He was supposed to have executed a miraculous pole vault using his spear across the Irrawaddy!

The last stop before the Sutaungpyei pagoda completes the legend of Mandalay. Here on the south terrace of a small stupa is the image of the ogress Sanda Muhki who, for want of something to offer the Buddha, made an offering of her own breasts. And for this extreme act of merit the Buddha made the prophecy that Sanda Muhki would be reborn as a great king who would build a city at the foot of the hill and become a great supporter of Buddhism in the year 2400 of the Buddhist Era (1857 AD), the year King Mindon laid the foundations of Mandalay. On each of the four corners of the terrace can be seen a king of the ogres with his army of miniature ogre images behind him paying obeisance to the Buddha. There are also images of various creatures, one at each level before a Buddha image, such as a rabbit, a cockerel or a lizard, representations of the Buddha's innumerable rebirths during his cycle of Samsara (birth, suffering, death and rebirth).

Mandalay Hill

• Entrance Fee: US$ 10
• Elevation: 224 m
• Location: Mandalay Region, Myanmar
• Easiest route: escalator