Kaylartha Pagoda: A Sacred Peak in Mon State, Myanmar

Photographs and Story by YE MYAT TUN

The soles of my feet were sticking in place; the blazing white tiles instantly seared flesh with each step of my clockwise path. At over 1,600 feet (490 meters), the summit of Kaylartha Mountain is kissed by a regular breeze from the Gulf of Mottama (Martaban) to the west, but the Mon sun shines mercilessly on the exposed surface. Shoes are forbidden; this is holy ground.

I took refuge under a shaded platform and shuffled my feet on the cool floor. Soles sufficiently alleviated, I turned and prostrated myself before the golden stupa rising above me. I stood after the customary three bows and gazed up reverently at the structure and its surroundings. Not just any stupa and not just any mountain, Kaylartha’s story is woven in history and shrouded in mystery.

The contiguous countryside below was fairly uninhabited, full of farmland to the back of beyond and dotted with just an occasional village. In the quiet of the mountain with nary a sound except that of a bell resounding in three sets of three, it was incredible to fathom that legend surrounded me.

The nearest city, Belin, lies to the east about an hour away, but buried at the foot of the mountain are the vestiges of the fabled Kingdom of Gold, Thuwunna Bonmi (Suvarnabhumi), which lay between the mouths of the Sittaung (Sittang) and Thanlwin (Salween) Rivers.

As with the story of the Pa’O, the tale of Thuwunna Bonmi begins with a love affair between a naga (dragon) and a weizza (wizard). In U Sann’s History of Hsandawshin Kyaikhtiyoe Pagoda, a detailed account is given of the Hermit Tissa, who found two dragon eggs while wandering about. He gave one of the eggs to his brother Thiha (also a hermit) who lived on Mt. Zwegabin and took the other with him on top of Zinkyaik Mountain. After some time and tender love and care, the eggs hatched, and two twin boys were “born.”

Tissa and Thiha raised their adopted sons in a secluded fashion until the untimely death of the youngest twin, Thiha’s charge, at the age of ten. The eldest twin, Thuriaya Kumaya, learned the ways of meditation and high court from Tissa, who had once renounced his life as a prince of a nearby kingdom. It was when Tissa’s own father, King Tissa Dama Yaza, passed away that his court approached Tissa with a request that he come down from Zinkyaik Mountain to rule his former kingdom. He and his brother Thiha refused to return to rule and offered up their adopted son, Thuriaya Kumaya, in their stead

Tissa and Thiha returned to their old kingdom briefly to escort Thuriaya Kumaya to his new home. After cremating their father’s remains, they suggested moving the kingdom and giving Thuriaya Kumaya a new land to rule. This was the start of the Kingdom of Thaton, or Thuwunna Bonmi. Thuriaya Kumaya, the Naga Weizza (Dragon Wizard), would henceforth be known as King Tissa Dama Thiya Yazar.

I descended the steps of the pagoda to the much cooler compound below. The sayadaw (resident abbot) was inside his chamber, greeting a local pilgrim. Someone had spread some rice out on a newspaper and a group of monkeys was buffaloing some stray puppies that were attempting to have a go at it.

The food offered to pilgrims and animals on the mountain is completely vegetarian fare. This mountain and its neighbor, Myathabeik, were under the care of the late Kyaikhtisaung Sayadaw, who had extolled the virtues of a meatless lifestyle. In the open-air kitchen down below, the volunteer cooks prepare fresh meals for the sayadaw and monks, who take their last meal of the day before noon.

Buddha proceeded to Kaylartha, where he gave sermons for a week and eventually gave out his hairs to six hermits (including Tissa and Thiha) and two belu (ogre) brothers.

The resident abbots of Kaylartha and Myathabeik not only continue the prescribed diet of their late master, but also his account of the histories of both mountains. These are clarified in the biography, Ashin Pannadipa and His Exertions. Within these pages, Ds. Anatta recounts the teachings of the Kyaikhtisaung Sayadaw regarding Gautama Buddha’s visit to Myathabeik and Kaylartha Mountains.

In the year 110 Great Era, Gavampati, an arahat (person who has achieved enlightenment) who lived in Mijjima Desa (India), visited Thuwunna Bonmi. He wanted to pay homage to Tissa, Thiha, and King Tissa Dama Thiya Yazar; the reason being that they were his close relatives in his past life. Upon inquiring further about the lives of Tissa and Thiha, the current Myathabeik Sayadaw told me that he was indeed the reincarnated youngest brother of King Tissa Dama Thiya Yazar, who had died at the age of ten from smallpox while in the care of the hermit Thiha on Mt. Zwegabin.

MONKEYS RUN THE SHOW

At the summit of Kaylartha, monkeys bully dogs and humans alike as they forage for scraps and whisk away snacks tossed to them. All food on the mountain is vegetarian.

Tissa, Thiha, and King Tissa Dama Thiya Yazar asked the young Gavampati to tell Gautama Buddha that they would dearly love to see him. Gavampati conceded and expressed their wish to Buddha himself. Upon his request, In the year 111 Great Era, Buddha landed on Myathabeik Mountain. A female nat (divine spirit) offered him an emerald alms bowl (called a myathabeik, thus the name of the mountain). After receiving the bowl, Buddha proceeded to Kaylartha, where he gave sermons for a week and eventually gave out his hairs to six hermits (including Tissa and Thiha) and two belu (ogre) brothers.

These hairs are now enshrined in various mountaintop pagodas, including Kaylartha, where I was resting peacefully under a centuries-old Bodhi Tree, waiting for my turn to visit the sayadaw. When the first guest left the abbot’s chamber, I went in, stooping respectfully as I crossed the threshold. We’ve known each other for nearly thirty years, back when I was a young phothudaw (acolyte in the Buddhist faith who wears white garments) and he was a hermit. He offered a can of Red Bull and we reminisced before I returned down the mountain, back to the secular world.

DISCOVER MYANMAR MAGAZINE · JANUARY-MARCH 2019

www.discovermyanmarmagazine.com