Taung Min Gyi (တောင်မင်းကြီး)

Burmese. ‘Southern Minister’. Name of a Buddhist temple located on the west bank of Taungthaman Lake in Amarapura, at the west end of the U Bein Bridge (fig.), to the South of present-day Mandalay. The temple is named after the Chief of the southern region, i.e. the Minister of the White Elephant, who in 1786 AD had a ca. 14.3 meter tall Buddha image built and placed it in the temple. The image, which bears the same name as the temple, consists of a crowned Buddha which is seated in the lotus position (asana), with a bhumisparsa mudra. The width from knee to knee measures just over 11 meters. The almost 4 meter high chadah-like crown was added later, as the image initially had no crown. Until recently, the image was also not covered by a roof and being out in the open, it locally acquired the nicknamed Nay Pu Khan Ko Daw Gyi, i.e. ‘Image Left in the Sun’. See MAP. 回