Mandalay

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Chief city of the Mandalay division of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and second city of the county, on the River Irrawaddy, about 495 km/370 mi north of the capital Yangon; population (2001 est) 1,037,000. The city is a major centre of commerce and of transport by road, rail, river, and air. Industries include tourism, tea packing, silk weaving, brewing, and food processing, as well as crafts such as wood carving and the fashioning of gold and silver objects. It is also a leading centre of Buddhist culture.

Founded by King Mindon Min in 1857, Mandalay was capital of Myanmar 1857–85. It has many pagodas, such as Kuthodaw, where, on over 700 marble slabs, the whole Buddhist canon is inscribed, and the Mahamuni (or Arakan) Pagoda, built in 1784 to safeguard a 2nd-century brass statue of the Buddha which has been covered by pilgrims with gold leaf. There are also many temples and monasteries, such as those at Shwenandaw Kyaung.

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