Thinking about Mandalay

The US Geological Survey predicts that the death toll could reach 10,000. Emergency relief missions from countries around the world have been and are still on their way to Myanmar, racing against the golden hour to save lives. How can the small warmth of sharing make up for the terrible damage to this poor country in Southeast Asia?

Saving one life is a great effort. Hundreds of thousands of people need saving and have no chance to be saved.

And as for heritage, I was stunned when I watched the news and saw that almost all the temples, pagodas, and historical structures I had visited 8 years ago had collapsed. Every day, a temple, relic, or historical structure in Mandalay that had collapsed was announced, and for me, it was like something was suffocating.

I scrolled through old photos. This one I took in front of the Mahamuni Pagoda, a famous Buddhist shrine and an important pilgrimage center for Myanmar Buddhists. I remember that in the main hall of the pagoda, there was a gold-plated Buddha statue. The gold layer got thicker every day as pilgrims visited and continued to apply layers of gold leaf to the statue.

When the people of Myanmar have a little money, they buy gold, not to speculate and hoard, but to gild pagodas and statues. Pagodas, and perhaps majestic gilded statues, have crumbled and fallen into the ground. Then the living will pick up those gold fragments and store them away to one day gild them onto statues or divide them into pieces to sell to buy some food to survive, as a "mundane" person like me thinks?

This is a picture of Amarapura Temple, an architectural masterpiece. The beautiful white temple was built in 1820. I remember very clearly, at that time, our group was scattered everywhere, only I was wandering with my camera in front of the steps leading up very high, there was a small gate. A monk approached, I asked to go up there but the answer was that women were not allowed. He asked me if I wanted him to take some pictures for me. I also took a picture of the monk. How did that gentle monk get through this terrible earthquake? Another question mark among countless questions.

And also, my heart really ached when I read that Kuthodaw Pagoda, also known as The World's Biggest Book, was on the list of heritage sites damaged by the earthquake. The special pagoda was built in 1857, including temples,

The temple has 729 small white stone stupas. Inside each stupa is a stone slab hand-carved with the Buddha's Tripitaka in Pali.

Hsinbyume Pagoda is over 200 years old, the white-painted pagoda is modeled after a sacred Buddhist mountain. The iconic structure of Mandalay has been reduced to rubble, the main tower of the pagoda has almost completely collapsed…

It is also because Myanmar has beautiful, long-standing pagodas and they preserve the Dharma that tourists come to visit. I sincerely pray that the people of Myanmar will overcome this natural disaster as they have overcome severe earthquakes in the past; as well as that there will be no more political instability so that tourists will come to admire the heritage, and see the honest faces and gentle smiles...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nghi-ve-mandalay-185250405185505217.htm