About Mingun Bell, Myanmar

The Mingun Bell is wellknown not only in Myanmar but also around the world. King Badon or more wellknown as King Bodawpaya dedicated a big bronze bell near the Mingun Cedi at Mingun on the west bank of the Ayeyawaddy River, facing Mandalay.

The Bell was made of bronze; but it is said that Buddhist devotees inserted gold, silver ornaments and jewellery into the bronze. The Bell measures eleven cubits and four thits (Fingers) in diameter at its mouth; 33 cubits, one mit (6 inches) and four thits in circumference and 13 cubits, one mit and four thits in height. It weighs 55555 viss.

The casting of the gigantic Bell began in M.E 1170 (A.D. 1808) on an island called Alei Kyun opposite of Mingun and was completed in the month of Nayon (June) M.E 1173 (A.D. 1811).

British records state that two bullock carts could easily drive past abreast under the Bell. According to the dimensions given in the records, by modern day measurements, the external diameter of the mouth is 16 feet 3 inches, the internal diameter of the mouth at a height of 4 feet 8 inches is 10 feet. The height of the inside of the Bell is 11 feet 6 inches and the external height is 12 feet. The diameter of the internal top is 8 feet 6 inches. The thickness of the Bell varies between 6 inches and 12 inches. Roughly speaking it weighs about 80 tons.

But if an exact calculation is worked out, from the detail measurements and weight given in the contemporary account of the Bell, mentioned in the Konbaung Set Maha Yazawun Taw Gyi (the Great Royal Chronicle of the Konbaung Dynasty), it is found that the real weight far exceeds the estimate. 55555 viss converted into tons, would equal 90.52 tons.

In the list of ancient monuments and antiquities under the custody of the Archaeology Department, this big Bell has been recorded as the World’s second largest Bell. But on page 238 of the Guiness Book of World Records published in March 1982, it is mentioned that the largest heaviest functioning Bell in the World is the 101.4 ton Mingun Bell in Mandalay Division, Myanmar.