This monastery contained, like the Silver Monastery, a school for children. On our departure, an interesting little episode occurred. A young priest draped his long yellow robe around one of the gentlemen, in veritable Roman toga style, the right arm and shoulder being exposed. Then one of the party took a photograph, promising to send a copy to the monastery.
The support of the Buddhist monasteries depends on charity, and a procession of priests from each monastery goes about with mendicant bowls or baskets, each morning soliciting food and fruit, everything being placed in one receptacle. Rice, however, is the principal contribution.
We also visited the Aindaw-Yah Pagoda, the oldest in Mandalay. This is entirely gilt, from base to spire, and presents an imposing appearance. It is surrounded by a large square or platform on which are placed various other shrines containing small images of Buddha.
The cause of there being so many pagodas in Burma is that thereby the builder gains renown and paves the way for greater happiness in a future state. For the above reason the pagoda is seldom repaired. The builder desires to be approached as "the builder of a pagoda," and invariably addresses his wife as "O wife of a pagoda builder." Architecturally the pagoda, in general, may be described as having a spire, massive throughout, rising from a circular, square, or octagonal base, in a succession of tiers or circles, of which the upper is always narrower than the one beneath it.
The principal industry of Mandalay is the weaving of silk, for which it is very celebrated, and a visit to the bazar was most interesting. Unlike the bazars previously described, this was a large, high building, filled with aisles and furnished with long tables, at the back of which sat the saleswomen; all the business of the bazar is carried on by women. There was a great variety of silk weaving of every conceivable shape and style, the sarong being prominent. This is a long colored garment which the women of Burma wear pinned tightly around them below the waist, unlike the fuller skirt we had seen in India, the dress being completed by a short, loose jacket which shows a white under-vest and a long, wide sash. The market was also very interesting, in a small building next or adjoining the silk bazar.
