Myanmar 40 Monywa Poe Win Hill Caves2

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Myanmar
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Monywa
Poe Win Hill Caves
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Po Win Taung is a Buddhist cave complex, located
on the western bank of the Chindwin River,
approximately 25 kilometers west of Monywa. The
name of the complex means Mountain of Isolated
Solitary Meditation. The complex contains 947
small and large richly decorated caves.
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Po Win Daung is a sprawling place, and the trails
lead you to the numerous sandstone caves where
the images inside were carved out from the living
rock and the walls and ceilings were covered with
bright mural paintings of geometrical patterns as
well as those of ancient Buddhist stories
(Jatakas).
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Po Win Taung is carved into a sandstone outcrop
and contains numerous carved Buddha statues and
mural paintings of geometric patterns and Jataka
stories. The statues and paintings have been
dated to between the 14th and 18th centuries
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Some of the carved archways around the entrances
are elaborate, in the design of the Bagan-era
arch pediments with soaring flames these
traditional motifs have been used since the Bagan
period.
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The art and architecture of this cave temple
complex have been created, renovated and added to
from the 14th century to the early 20th century.

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Some openings are simply framed on the outside
with carved stylized vines. There are tribes of
small monkeys with golden brown fur living in the
surrounding woods and the ancient artisans had
included a few of their forms scampering among
the stone vines
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Natural tunnels have been widened to enable
people to walk from one cave to the other.
Crowds of pilgrims attend the annual festival
that takes place in October or November but for
the rest of the year, the two places are mostly
devoid of visitors. The caves are silent, and a
tranquillity descends that would please any
ascetic seeking a higher state of mind
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Most of Myanmar people (about 80 ) are Buddhist
and the country is also the world centre of
Theravada Buddhism. The country has thousands of
pagoda spread all over the country and the daily
routine life of local people is deeply influenced
by Buddhism. It is common to see local people
meditating to get inner peace and mind-awareness
in pagodas, monuments and temples
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The caves themselves contain Buddhist statues and
murals dating to the 17th and 18th centuries.
Most exhibit the Inwa style, though some may date
as for back as the 14th to16th centuries. A
covered stairway climbs a hill to the main cave
shrine, but there are dozens of large and small
caves in the area filled with old Buddha images.
There are over 400,000 images in these and other
nearby caves.
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The name Po Win is believed to have been
evolved from a term meaning the powerful state
of an ascetics mind, and that once those
seeking supernatural powers had meditated there.
Taung means hill.
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The interior walls of the Po Win Taung caves are
thickly covered with wall paintings from the 17th
century. The artwork is similar to those found
elsewhere of the same period, showing Shan
influences in the faces with arched eyebrows,
wide eyes, plumb cheeks, pointed chins and
curving lips
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In Burma white elephants have been revered
symbols of power and good fortune. The
announcement by the ruling military regime of the
finding of white elephants in 2001 and 2002 was
seen by opponents as being aimed at bolstering
support for their regime. As of 2010 a total of
three white elephants are currently held in a
pavilion on the outskirts of Yangon. White
elephants are only nominally white. Of those
currently kept by the Burmese rulers General
Than Shwe regards himself as the heir of the
Burmese kings one is grey and the other are
pinkish, but all are officially white.
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The footprint of the is an imprint of Gautama
Buddha's one or both feet. There are two forms
natural, as found in stone or rock, and those
made artificially. Many of the "natural" ones, of
course, are acknowledged not to be actual
footprints of the Buddha, but replicas or
representations of them, which can be considered
cetiya (Buddhist relics) and also an early
aniconic and symbolic representation of the
Buddha. They often bear distinguishing marks,
such as a Dharmachakra at the centre of the sole,
or the 32, 108 or 132 auspicious signs of the
Buddha, engraved or painted on the sole.
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Text Internet Pictures Sanda Foisoreanu
Internet All  copyrights  belong to their
 respective owners Presentation Sanda Foisoreanu
2014
Sound Hlaing Win Maung - My Native Spiri