Qualla: Mingun Bell

Mingun Bell: Introduction

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jeremias, CC BY-SA 4.0. The number 55,555 is easy to remember in Burmese. Say the phrase "Min Hpyu Hman Hman Pyaw" and every consonant maps to the digit five in Burmese numerology -- a mnemonic for the bell's weight in viss, the traditional unit of mass. That a country invented a tongue-twister to remember how heavy a single bell is tells you something about the object's hold on the national imagination. Sitting in a zayat on the western bank of the Irrawaddy River, roughly 11 kilometers north of Mandalay, the Mingun Bell has been drawing visitors and astonishment since King Bodawpaya ordered it cast in the early nineteenth century.

Read more: Mingun Bell on Qualla

Image: Jeremias | CC BY-SA 4.0

Mingun Bell: A King's Commission

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:Hintha, Public domain. King Bodawpaya, who ruled the Konbaung dynasty from 1782 to 1819, was not a man of modest ambitions. His temple complex at Mingun was intended to be the largest Buddhist stupa ever built, and he wanted a bell to match. Commissioned as part of this grand project, the Mingun Bell w...

Read more: Mingun Bell on Qualla

Image: User:Hintha | Public domain

Mingun Bell: Built to Extraordinary Scale

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gerd Eichmann, CC BY-SA 3.0. The bell's dimensions are as striking as its weight. Standing 20.7 feet from rim to crown, with an exterior height of 12 feet and an outer rim diameter of 16 feet, its circumference at the base stretches over 50 feet. The walls are roughly six inches thick throughout. Unlike many...

Read more: Mingun Bell on Qualla

Image: Gerd Eichmann | CC BY-SA 3.0

Mingun Bell: A Mnemonic in Metal

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit DiverDave, CC BY 3.0. The weight inscribed in white on the bell's surface -- 55,555 viss -- is more than a measurement. In Burmese astronomy and numerology, consonant sounds correspond to numbers, and the phrase "Min Hpyu Hman Hman Pyaw" encodes the digit five in each consonant. This elegant pairing o...

Read more: Mingun Bell on Qualla

Image: DiverDave | CC BY 3.0

Mingun Bell: The Title Changes Hands

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Go-Myanmar, CC BY-SA 3.0. For nearly 200 years, the Mingun Bell held its place as the largest functioning bell on Earth. That distinction ended in 2000, when the 116-ton Bell of Good Luck was installed at Foquan Temple in Pingdingshan, Henan, China. The Mingun Bell now ranks as the second-heaviest ringing...

Read more: Mingun Bell on Qualla

Image: Go-Myanmar | CC BY-SA 3.0