Friday, 03 June 2011 21:25 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The casting of a temple bell made of copper and weighing more than 1,800 kilogrammes will be completed this month. The bell will be installed at the site of a bronze Buddha image opposite Bago Degree College.
The bell, 13-feet high, 9-feet in circumference and 11 inches thick, is being cast at the Bandoola Foundry in Mandalay. Eighty per cent of casting is completed, said a founder representative, Nay Doon.
‘We used a lot of labour in casting this bell to prevent it from cracking’, he told Mizzima.
Abbot Abhidaza Aggha Maha Thaddhama Zawtika Daza Baddanta Vitthuda, 93, asked his followers to cast the bell and place it in Ottha, a new satellite town in Bago.
The abbot’s followers collected copper material in various forms to go into the bell’s construction. The total cost is estimated at more than 500 million kyat (US$ 600,000).
The bell is made in a traditional method involving a core mold, waxing and base plates. The foundry used more than 100 men and 17 oil burners and drums, each of which could hold up to 44 kg of molten metal.
‘The bellfounding is the most difficult job. It is the most difficult work in metal casting because it is susceptible to cracking. Buddha images and triangular shaped brass gongs, they are child’s play for us. In this work of bellfounding, we have to take the utmost care’, said Nay Doon.
The bell, known as the ‘Thanthar Myihane’ bell, will become the fourth largest bell in Burma. The largest is the Mingun Bell at 7,015 kg of copper; the second is the King Tharyawady Bell at 3,274 kg of copper (cast in 1843) and the third is the King Singu Bell at 1,964 kg of copper (cast in 1778).
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The casting of a temple bell made of copper and weighing more than 1,800 kilogrammes will be completed this month. The bell will be installed at the site of a bronze Buddha image opposite Bago Degree College.
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| A copper bell now under construction will be the fourth largest in Burma. Photo: Mizzima |
‘We used a lot of labour in casting this bell to prevent it from cracking’, he told Mizzima.
Abbot Abhidaza Aggha Maha Thaddhama Zawtika Daza Baddanta Vitthuda, 93, asked his followers to cast the bell and place it in Ottha, a new satellite town in Bago.
The abbot’s followers collected copper material in various forms to go into the bell’s construction. The total cost is estimated at more than 500 million kyat (US$ 600,000).
The bell is made in a traditional method involving a core mold, waxing and base plates. The foundry used more than 100 men and 17 oil burners and drums, each of which could hold up to 44 kg of molten metal.
 |
| The circumference of the bell will be more than 9 feet. Photo: Mizzima |
The bell, known as the ‘Thanthar Myihane’ bell, will become the fourth largest bell in Burma. The largest is the Mingun Bell at 7,015 kg of copper; the second is the King Tharyawady Bell at 3,274 kg of copper (cast in 1843) and the third is the King Singu Bell at 1,964 kg of copper (cast in 1778).
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