The Great Dhammazedi Bell was the largest bell ever made by man. Its height was about six meters, width - more than three and a half meters, and weight - about three hundred tons (the world famous Moscow Tsar Bell weighs two hundred tons). More precisely, this man-made miracle, as many believe, still exists, so it may not be entirely correct to talk about it in the past tense.
The great bell was cast in about 1480 by order of King Dhammazedi, who ruled the medieval state of Hantavadi, which today is Myanmar. The amazing product was a gift from the king to the local Shwedagon pagoda. Initially, the ruler did not plan any gift, but his people mistakenly collected an unnecessary tax from the people, and then Dhammazadi decided to spend the "extra" money from the treasury to create a record bell to glorify Buddha.
Riddles of the great bell
Shortly before the planned casting, the royal astrologer advised Dhammazedi to postpone the date of manufacture of the bell, since the work began at an unfavorable time, when the constellation of the Crocodile influenced the planet. The counselor was convinced that otherwise the bell would be defective and would not ring. The ruler obeyed this advice, and the date of casting was postponed to a later date. When the signal instrument was first hit, the sound was not very pleasant. According to the king's adviser, this happened because the bell was cast anyway in violation of some astrological requirements. However, later the ringing of the bell became more euphonic.
The metals used to create the Great Dhammazedi Bell were copper, tin, gold and silver. This masterpiece was also encrusted with sapphires and emeralds.
In 1583, the Venetian writer and merchant Gasparo Balbi found himself in the Shwedagon Pagoda, who was incredibly struck by the bell. The traveler was impressed not only by the unprecedented dimensions and rich decoration of the signaling instrument, but also by the mysterious small symbols that were engraved on the product. In his travel diary, Balbi wrote that the entire bell was covered with incomprehensible hieroglyphs, which would be enough for a thick book.
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The merchant talked with the local people, including monks, and found out that none of them was able to read the mysterious inscriptions. It turned out that the locals simply did not know this language, and eyewitnesses to the creation of the bell had long been in heaven.
Higher powers protected the bell
In 1608, the Arakan conquerors decided to melt the bell and cast ship cannons from the resulting metal. The great Dhammazedi bell was removed from the pagoda and dragged to the Sitown River on elephants. There the bell was loaded onto a raft, and the raft was tied to the flagship. The ship did not reach the middle of the river, when the raft could not bear the weight of the bell and went to the bottom, dragging the ship after it. According to Buddhists, the higher powers did not allow the bell to be melted down for a weapon.
Since then, this masterpiece has been considered lost. According to some historical sources, during low tide, the bell was visible in the river until the end of the nineteenth century. Today it is believed that if the Great Bell of Dhammazedi really rests at the bottom of Sitown, then today it is buried under several meters of silt. Of course, repeated attempts were made to find it, but they were unsuccessful, since the water here is very muddy, and at the bottom there are also many wrecks of sunken ships.
Over the past quarter century, specialists have descended with equipment in Seatown at least eight times, but in vain. Due to the fact that the bell is considered a national treasure of Myanmar and one of the symbols of the Buddhist faith, it can be assumed that attempts to find it will be made in the future. Moreover, modern technology is quite capable of doing this, the main thing is that sponsors are found.