Mandalay Palace(2)

Palace grounds Entering the palace grounds from the east, on the right or north sits the Clock Tower, or Bahozin (ပဟိုရ်စင်). It is a simple building, consisting of a high square plinth; on the top of this four columns sustain a wooden platform surmounted by a double-roof; the whole is crowned by a small finial and a hti or umbrella. It is from this platform that the passing of time was made known to the city by sounding regularly a gong and a very large drum at each watch, that is, every third hour; the day and the night were each divided into four watches. The time was marked by a water-clock. This consisted of a large water jar on the water of which was placed a brass bowl; in the bottom of the latter was pierced a tiny hole, its size so calculated that the bowl filled with water and dropped to the bottom of the jar at exact recurring intervals, which were the hours. To the south of the Clock Tower, nearly facing it across the road is Swedawzin (စွယ်တော်စင်) or the Tooth-Relic Tower. A good example of traditional Burmese architecture, the Relic Tower has three parts – first a low basement; second a rectangular block or terrace rising from the first and third a relic-chamber surmounted by a three-tiered roof (pyatthat); the whole is crowned by the usual finial and the hti. Along the four sides of both basement and terrace runs a battlemented parapet formed of lozenge ornaments; at the four corners of each are small square pillars each surmounted by a marble manussiha or winged leogryph; the monster has a human head and two bodies. The relic-chamber on the terrace is square; the only entrance into it is on the west, facing the flight of stairs by which access is obtained to the top of the terrace; these narrow steps are enclosed between two brick walls, ornamented with copings in three tiers; the lower end of each coping is terminated by a large and graceful volute; this kind of ornamental stairs, with minor differences in details, may be seen all over Burma, either in brick or wood. The walls and roofs of the relic-chamber are adorned with graceful plaster carvings. Although the building is called the Tooth Relic Tower, there never was any tooth-relic enshrined in it. The tower was built simply because it was the tradition to have such a tower at the royal city, a tradition from the time of King Bayinnaung. Hluttaw The Hluttaw (လွှတ်တော်, [l̥ʊʔ tɔ̀]) or the Supreme Court was where the official business of the court was conducted. The Lion Throne (Sihasana) was the chief throne of eight in the palace. The hall consists of two three-roofed wooden structures, richly decorated with figures and flowers, and supported by massive teak pillars painted red at the bottom and gilded above. Therein was a Lion-Throne (Sihasana) for the king. King Mindon's mausoleum, c. 1903 Due north from the Clock Tower is a cluster of mausoleums erected to the memory of some members of the royal family. The most important historically is that of King Mindon, who died in 1878. It was originally a brick pyatthat, plastered over and whitewashed, erected by King Thibaw to the memory of his father, as soon as the grave had been built. The Sawbwa of Yawnghwe, decorated the king's tomb with glass mosaic. It is a square structure surmounted by a septuple roof terminating as usual in a hti. Other mausoleums include those of three wives of Mindon: Chief Queen; Queen Laungshe, mother of King Thibaw; Queen Hsinbyumashin, mother of Queen Supayalat. Royal Mint The Royal Mint is located a few hundred metres to the northeast of the mausoleums. It was where the first Burmese coin was minted in 1865. After the British annexation, the mint was used as bakery for the troops for some years. It was one of few buildings in the palace that survived allied bombing during World War II. The palace grounds are dominated by the 24 m (78 ft) tall Nanmyintsaung (နန်းမြင့်ဆောင်) or Watch Tower, topped by a seven tiered pyatthat. It was the spot from which to view the city.[1] The king and queen sometimes ascended the tower to witness the panorama of the country around, with its river, the bills and lakes. They also, from its summit, contemplated the spectacle of the illumination of the town at the Thadingyut festival at the end of Vassa ('Buddhist Lent'). It is said that Queen Supayalat witnessed, from there, the entry of the British troops who took Mandalay in November 1885. The Watch Tower also survived the allied bombing during World War II. On the palace platform The road from the Eastern Gate, which passes between the Clock Tower and the Relic Tower, leads to the Mye-Nandaw, and the Golden Spire over the Lion Throne Room, which marks the centre of the city. All the palace buildings stood on the platform. The latter consists of three distinct parts: on the east, the Great Audience Hall and the Lion Throne Room are erected on an earthen basement contained by a brick wall; the whole of the western portion, from the westernmost extremity up to and including the Hman-nan or Glass Palace, is likewise an earthen basement surrounded by a masonry wall; these two basements are connected, from the Hman-nan up to the Lion Throne Room, by a plank flooring of the same level supported by numerous teak posts. The whole of this platform, in its greatest length, measures 306 m (1,004 ft); in its greatest width, 175 m (574 ft). The height of the basement is 2 m (6 ft 9 in), the surrounding or retaining wall rising to a height of 3 m (10 ft 9 in) from the surrounding ground, and forming a parapet 1.2 m (4 ft) from the basement. Access to the top of the basement was obtained by thirty-one flights of steps, some large and some quite small, the principal of which are those at the eastern and western extremities. Great Audience Hall The Great Audience Hall in 1903 This hall itself is made up of three parts: the North (or Left) Audience Hall, and the South (or Right) Audience Hall; they were so called because, when the king was seated on the throne, facing the east, the first was to his left and the second to his right. These two parts or wings are connected by a transept running east to west from the flight of steps up to the railing around the throne; this transept was called the Central Audience Hall, because it was flanked by the Right and Left Halls. The Great Audience Hall as a whole measures, from north to south, 77.1 m (253 feet). Below the palace platform, on each side of the flight of steps, on the east, may be seen a few old pattern European cannons and near them some heaps of cannonballs; a few other guns of the same pattern are placed also on the sides of the steps on the west front of the palace. The Great Audience Hall was built with a special eye to external effect, and this object was attained by carving and gilding all the wooden parts of the roofs-except the panels between the two roofs, which were merely gilt-that is, the gables, barge-boards and eaves-boards. The carving is in low relief and consists principally of a lotus and foliage-band on the eaves-boards; the barge-boards are ornamented with a plain scroll design and surmounted by flamboyant which are very effective as a decoration. But the wealth of ornamentation is lavished on the corners of the hipped roofs and the points of the gables as well as their lower extremities. The corners of the hipped (lower) roofs are surmounted by two wooden boards, made up of several joined pieces and meeting so as to form a right angle at the corner; the chief motifs are flamboyant, foliage, lotus-bands and guilloches. The angle represents a stylized peacock—the emblem of royalty—is surmounted by a finial; below the eaves-boards is a pendant turned in the lathe. This same peacock is everywhere found at the points of the gables, forming a hip-knob, with the pendant below. All these carvings, besides being gilt, were also decorated with simple glass mosaic. The details above given apply mostly to all the other apartments. Lion Throne Room The Lion Throne in 1903 There were eight thrones in the palace, of which the Lion Throne (သီဟာသနပလ္လင်, Sihasana Palanka) was the greatest, and as such much more elaborately sculptured and finished than the others; an exact replica of the one in the palace was formerly in the Hluttaw. The king alone, of course, had a right to sit on it; and for anybody else to do so would be considered a case of high treason; the fact indeed was that anybody sitting on this throne was practically the king, if he could keep the rightful owner off. The base is a lotus throne formed of two lotuses, the upper one inverted on the top of the other; this pattern in no way differs from an ordinary altar supporting a Buddha image; but in the centre, where it is narrowest, that is, at the point where the two lotuses meet, is a small band containing a row of niches, with a somewhat larger one above it; in these niches were small figures of lions, besides the two large ones which may be seen now at each side of the throne. Access to the throne was obtained by means of a flight of steps in the room behind it from which it is shut off by a sliding door of gilt iron lattice work. The other thrones were the Hintha Throne (ဟင်္သာသနပလ္လင်), Elephant Throne (Gajasana) in the Byedaik (Privy Council Hall), Thinga Throne, Deer Throne (Migasana), Peacock Throne (Marurasana), Lily Throne (ပဒုမ္မာသနပလ္လင်), and Bee Throne (Bhamarasana). The original Lion Throne was saved from destruction in the bombings of World War II, because it was transported by the British authorities to India in 1885 after the Third Anglo-Burmese War, and later returned. It is now exhibited in the National Museum of Myanmar in Yangon. Hmannandawgyi (မှန်နန်းတော်ကြီး) or Glass Palace, is the largest and considered one of the most beautiful apartments of the palace. It is believed to be King Mindon's principal living apartment of the palace. Like all the Throne rooms, it is divided by a wooden partition into two rooms. In the east room is the Bee Throne (Bhamarasana), so called because it was adorned with figures of bees in the small niches at the bottom of the pedestal. This was where the ceremony for the nomination of the Chief Queen and the Royal nuptial were held. It was also where the king and queen celebrated the Burmese New Year, and where the formal ear piercing of young princesses took place. The body of King Mindon was laid out in this room for viewing after his death in 1878. The west room, which was formerly divided into several smaller ones, was the principal living room of Mindon, and no other persons were allowed to sleep there except the four principal queens, to each of whom was appointed a room near the royal bed-chamber, which consisted of a small room surmounted by a pyatthat, or small spire consisting of seven superposed roofs similar to the Golden Spire over the Lion Throne Room on the cast of the palace. This pyatthat was of gilt copper. On each side of this spired-room were constantly kept open two white umbrellas. The ladies-in-waiting of the Glass Palace were, by turns, stationed around the west room to wait upon. Their Majesties; they, whether princesses or minor queens, were not allowed to enter this room with slippers on or with their golden umbrellas: they had to leave these at the entrance with their attendants. In the time of King Thibaw, Queen Supayalat had a small room to herself in this west room of the Hmannan.