Origins According to legend, the
Gautama Buddha visited
Dhanyawadi, the capital city of
Arakan during his travels on a missionary mission to spread Buddhism. During the 26th anniversary of King
Candrasurya at the time, the Buddha accompanied by
Shin Ananda and 500 disciples The
King of Arakan, along with his Chief Queen Candra Mala (with her
retinue of 1,600 ladies-in-waiting), and an entourage of ministers, generals and officials, paid homage to the Buddha. Buddha was pleased and "imbued the image with his spiritual essence", or "enlivened and consecrated" the image, naming it "Candasara". Historian Juliane Schober has very succinctly explained this legend and the cult worship that has evolved around the "living" double image of Mahamuni Buddha: Another legend narrated in the Arakanese chronicle relates to the nine
phenomena that occurred when the image was consecrated in the temple and continued to occur after the Buddha had departed. These nine phenomena were: holy water used for washing the image would not overflow the collecting vessels; the water from the tank that was used for washing the Buddha's head would retain its quality throughout the year; six coloured rays appeared when the devotees worshipped the image in the evenings; the rays faded in the presence of non-believers; the space in the temple would automatically accommodate any number of devotees; the leaves of trees would tilt in the direction of the Buddha image; birds would not fly over the temple; and the stone guardians at the entrance would sense the presence of evil doers and prevent them from entering the temple.
Image history , Crown Prince and son of
Bodawpaya carried off the Mahamuni to Amarapura In the ancient history of Arakan, King
Anawratha of
Pagan (r. 1044–1077) attempted to move the image to
Bagan, without success. In 1784, the
Burmese under the military leadership of Crown Prince
Thado Minsaw of
Konbaung dynasty conquered the Kingdom of
Mrauk U. The religious relics of the kingdom, including the Mahamuni Buddha image, were confiscated and installed in the Mahamuni temple or
pagoda at
Amarapura. Amarapura, located within modern-day
Mandalay District, had recently become the new royal capital just two years prior. As the Mahamuni image was too large to transport as a whole, it was cut into sections and later reassembled and housed in the new temple.
Mandalay became the capital under King
Mindon (r. 1853–1878). It was also the capital under his son
Thibaw (r. 1878–1885) of the
Konbaung Dynasty (1752–1885). When the British annexed Upper Burma in 1885 to prevent the French from dominating it, monarchic rule ended. However, veneration of the Mahamuni image has continued, and is visited and
worshipped by many pilgrims, mainly
Rakhine,
Mon and
Burmans peoples. In 1564, the Burmese king
Bayinnaung conquered
Ayutthaya and took thirty such statues to
Bago. In 1599, King
Razagri of
Mrauk U invaded Bago and brought the statues to
Mrauk U. Devotees believe that the statues have healing qualities to rub a particular part of the body against the statues to cure themselves of various ailments and diseases. In the fire that broke out during the reign of King
Thibaw, the seven-tiered spire on the brick temple, devotional halls, causeways and others were burnt down, although the Great Image itself was saved. Gold recovered after the fire was made into a robe that currently adorns the image. In 1887, Minister
Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung took charge of the site and in 1896 constructed the present temple around the original shrine built by King
Bodawpaya. It was believed that thieves had drilled the hole in an attempt to steal jewels believed to be secreted within the image. ==Architecture==