In Myanamar, local people set a believe in their bells. To people in this Golden pagoda country, the Bell is a symbol of Buddhism. So hundreds of huge bells are made and set in important pagodas. Among Myanmar attractions, today we will discover the mystery of Dhammazedi- a lost bell for more than 4 centuries.
Dhammazedi history
Dhammazedi, known as the biggest bell in the world- is a lost one of Myanmar. Around this mysterious bell, there are many stories and belief. This 270 tons bell is believed to be under the river for more than 4 centuries.
For many years, Dhammazedi is still the high pride of this 60 million population country. Myanmar government has a strong belief that finding out their mysterious Dhammazsedi bell will make their country become a pearl of Asia. That is the reason why they spend a lot of money and time trying to get back their huge bell. This in fact makes a great mystery to Myanmar travelling. Many tourists travel to Burma from uk, india and other country just to participate in the great search for the lost Dhammazedi.
There are many stories around this special bell. It is said that Dhammazedi king first allowed to make this bell in XV century. As a Buddha follower, this king wanted to make a very big bell to express his respect to Buddha. As many say, this bell is about 5 to 6 meters in height and reaches up to 270 tons.
After being made, this huge bell was given to Shwedagon in Yangon, which is one of the most famous Myanmar attractions, as this pagoda is very sacred to many people. A gem trader, on his business to Myanmar, had the chance to see this bell by his own eyes. Gaspero Balbi shared in his notebook that he saw a very big bell about 7 steps up and 3 arms wide. He even share a very special detail that, on the bell are many strange sentences. This again made the fame of Dhammazedi spreaded out all over the world.
The story happened to Dhammzedi 130 years later in Shwedagon. There was a period that Myanmar was in the time of war. That time was the time Dhammazedi got lost. As the story told by many Myanmarese, this bell was stolen by a mercenary named De Brito. He wanted to use this bronze casting bell and used it to make into cannons. But it was, of coure, not easy at all. De Brito together with other soliders had to bring the bell down the hill. It took much time and effort. But at last, he successed. And on the way back to Thanlyin, also called Syriam, the heavy bell fell in the area between Yangon and Bago river. Myanmar(Burma) believed that their Buddha had protected their pride and treasure from the anemy.
myanmar people has not stopped searching for the lost bell. But through more than 400 years, no result was found. They believe that this bell belongs to their God and it is protected.
To the world, the story is still a mystery. There are no proofs but only rumors, but still it appeals to local and visistors to many efforts of finding the lost bell. Both in Myanmar and in other countries, many volunteer to use their own Myanmar travel budget and take a role in this century search. They use different ways and spend much money with the strong hope for a better future for Myanmar.
The first search was in February in 1987. A team of Myo Myint, Ukyaw, U kono and U kyaning tried to get their first steps of finding the biggest bell of the world. Although they had had good preparations, nothing happened at all. But since then, the world has one more famous place on Myanmar travel tour websites.
But they didn’t give up easily, this team had their second search in 1989. This played an important role to make other scientists from Europe to care more about this Asia country.
In 1995, a team from America moved to Myanmar and try to achive great result. Jim Blunt and Myanmar’s people together with 116 other divers had spent a long time with much effort and what they achieved was a documental movie telling about their search for Dhammazedi, one of many Myanmar attraction.
In his email, Jim Blunt wrote that he started to find the bell in December, 1995. After 10 times diving, he believed that the river was cursed. Some members died during the search and nothing about Dhammazedi was found.
In a book of Chit San Win from Myanmar, he said that he did not believe in the curse, but his son, Nay Oo also died when trying to find the lost bell. This detail makes stories about Dhammazedi more and more mysterious, attracts many people and makes this place become Myanmar tourist sites just in a short time.
In the newest search in 2015, a formar navy officer name San Lin had a shocking declaration that he would not need the power of science in his search. Instead, he asked for help from a monk, who would pray for the team and he believed that Buddha and God would help him find the legendary bell-Dhammazedi.
These days, the news that Damien Lay, a film director from Australia who have visited many Myanmar highlights before, also wants to join this century search has attracted many people all over the world. One strange thing in the future search is about the location. He shared that he had found another destination and with great sureness, he is looking for great achievement.
Although many searches have passed, story about Dhammazedi still keeps its same origin. No more proofs to believe. But Myanmar’s government welcomes all. This helps Myanmar much and help the surrounding local people have better earnings.
With great hope and strong belief, we can together wish for Myanmar to find their lost bell as soon as possible. Will you volunteer in the future to discover Myanmar attraction, Dhammazedi?
