Nāng Sāng (mother); Nāng Cing; Pò Sāngwāringta (Their home is close to Wat Pā Pao, Ching Mai)
Subject matter:
Buddhist Chronicle
Copyist:
Nāi Care Khamsai (Müang Cī)
Copying date in native date:
8th (waning) 2nd (lunar) Cūḷasakarāja 1291
Copying date in Gregorian:
1929
Script:
Shan; Burmese
Writing support:
Mulberry paper – Leporello format
Watermark?:
No
Countermark?:
No
Manuscript cover?:
Yes
Binding?:
No
Manuscript cover dimension:
19.5 x 45.5 cm
Manuscript paper dimension:
19.5 x 45.5 cm
Text block dimension:
16 x 38.5 cm
Number of pages:
386 pages
Number of blank pages:
10 pages
Rubrication?:
No
Illumination?:
No
Illustration?:
Yes
Manuscript condition:
Poor
Description of manuscript content:
This manuscript pertains to the chronicle of the Kòngmū pagoda in Müang Sae. In the past, God Indra and Phra Ananda built a pagoda to enshrine the Buddha’s relics in Müang Sae. A fisherman heard a couple of [mermaid / naga ?] talked about a plan to destroy Müang Sae. The fisherman reported the ruler who then held a ceremony to worship the city guardian spirits. However, the guardian spirit consulted with God Indra because it was a severe event. God Indra suggested having a priest cover the pagoda with stucco to enlarge the size of the pagoda. The pagoda was thus coated with stucco but still had no a top tiered umbrella. The priest then asked people to collaboratively make merit by decorating the pagoda with a tiered umbrella. However, the city ruler was dissatisfied thus bullied the priest and his ex-wife, but they were eventually rescued by the merit of coving the pagoda and decorating it with the golden tiered umbrella.
Colophon:
ၵႃၼႆ ႁိုင်ႁိုင် ပုၵ်ပထံမေ် တေ်သၼႃ ၵႃထႃ သပိင်ၺု ၸဝ်ၽႃပုင်ပွႆဝႆးမိုဝ်း ယံးလိဝ် ႁဝ်းတၵ်းသုတ်းသေ် ထိဝ်သႂ် ဝင်းၵွႆတွႆးၶၼ်းတြႃး ၶျႃးမိုဝ်း ၶတ်ပုင်တံး ၵံး႞ၵွၼ်ယဝ် သူ႟သူၼေႃ်း
ႁိင်ၼိုင်သွင်ပၵ်ၵဝ်သိပ်ဢိတ် လိုၼ်ပိတ်သွင် လွင်ပိတ်ၶံ
Now, we finished listening to a very long preaching. [thus] I finish my writing here.
Cūḷasakarāja 1291 (2472 BE), the second eighth [lunar] month, the eighth day of the waning moon.
Remark: The year CS 1291 has only one eighth lunar month whereas CS 1290 has two.
Other notes:
The manuscript is thick and slightly damaged. The front cover, the back cover, and the spine are decorated with black lacquer and gilded with gold leaves. Some pages of the manuscript are damaged by insects.
(The inner flyleaf)
With the merit derived from donating this manuscript, may I, as long as still being in the Cycle of Rebirths, be reborn in rich families, have sharp wisdom, and have good opportunities to make merit, to donate, and to observe the precepts in every future life. When Phra Sri Ariya Metteyya comes to be the next Buddha, may I be reborn as his follower to listen to his Teachings and reach Nibbāna.
Note: The scene of gathering gold to build the tiered umbrella is similar to the Jātaka story entitled Alòng Phra Cao Din Niao (Bōdhisatta dedicates a Buddha statue made by himself of clay).