Indian Antiquary Vol 22

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 5

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY,
A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH.
VOLUME XXII.-1893.
A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE PO:U:DAUNG INSCRIPTION
OF S'INBYUYIN, 1774 A. D.
BY TAW SEIN KO. The right bank of the Irrawaddy River near Prome is fringed by a range of hills, and Posû:daung is the name applied to the topmost of seven hills, forming part of this range. The Posa:daung Hill is crowned with a massive rock, called the Hermit's Cap, and shaped like a Buddhist priest's alms-bowl. On this rock a platform of brick is raised, on which stands the Pô::danng Pagoda. It is about 30 feet high, and its form and architecture bespeak its being the handiwork of masons from the maritime provinces. Near the pagoda is an imagehouse, which bears date 1236, Burmese Era, (1874 A.D.). In this image-house Gautama Buddha is represented in a standing posture with the index-finger of his right hand pointing towards Prome, and Ananda, his beloved disciple, in a praying attitude, begging the sage to explain his oracle fully.
On the eastern side of the Hermit's Cap – which is surrounded on every side, except the one where it joins the next hill, by sheer precipices of some thousand feet in depth -- are three caves cut into the rock. Over these are images of the two traditional moles, also cut in the rock, representing them in an adoring attitude and asking some boon from Gautama Buddha. One of the caves is devoted to the custody of an inscription engraved on a sandstone slab, about four feet high by three feet wide. The inscription was placed there by S'inbyuyin (1763-1776 A. D.), the second son of Alaungp'aya (Alompra). It bears date 1136, B. E., (1774 A. D.), and contains a record of his progress from Ava to Rangoon, his placing a new til on the Shwe Dagôn Pagoda at Rangoon, and the removal of its old ti, which was thrown down by an earthquake in 1769, to be enshrined in the P0gdedaung Pagoda.
The placing of a new t'i on the Shwê Dagon Pagoda by Sinbyûyin was symbolical of the consolidation of the power of the dynasty founded by his father in 1757 A. D., of the replacement of the Talaings by the Burmans in the government of United Burma, and of the national jubilation over the successes which attended Burmese arms in the wars with Manipur, China, and Siam. The ceremony of placing the t'i was witnessed by the king in person, in order to convince the Talaings, whose abortive rebellion in Martaban had just been suppressed, that his rule was a personal one, and to impress on them the splendour of his power and the resources at his command. Moreover, to minimize the possibility of all future attempts at rebellion, with
1 At''(= umbrella) is the umbrelliform ornament which must be placed on the summit of every pagoda.