The four wooded hills lying to the north, north east, and east of Mandalay Hill are Yet Kan Zin Taung Hill, Mei U Taung Hill, Yan Kin Taung Hill and Yey Tagun Taung Hill. Today they all are within easy reach of the town Mandalay by motor road in spite of their distances. Of them the second Hill, Mei U Taung Hill seems unique not only because of its geographical features but also because of the absence of Buddhist associations in its legend.
One of the offshoots of the Shan mountains, outcropping from the vast flatland, like its sister hills Yan Kin Taung Hill and Yey Tagun Taung Hill, Mei U Taung Hill is much lower than the other two and more forested and wild. Originally called “Yin Kat” Hill, named after the fragrant hairy medicinal flower trees which grow profusely on it before it took the present name “Mei U Taung” alias Thakhin Ma Taung Hill, after the tragic story of a beautiful village girl Ma Shwe U took place around and on this Hill, ten centuries ago.
Besides Yin Kat, other disideous flora cover the Hill such as Than, Dhahat, Htanaung, Neem, Tamarind, Bamboo, Toddy, palm Kokko, Sein Ban, Ngu, Padauk, Yinma, Ingyin, Tharaphee and herbal plants fruits and flowers. With little springs, falls and pools in Monsoon, the Hill is a paradise for avian, land and amphibious creatures. Dove, sparrow, cuckoo, owls, parakeets, boke, zayet, khar, nget-taw, ziwazo, deedoke, wunlo, jackdaw wild fowl and eagle are counted plenty among winged creatures, while tiger, sambhur, wild pig, jackle, deer, monitor lizard, tortoises, lizard and reptiles dominate night life on the hill. Warm in daytime and cold at night this wilderness of the Hill is inhospitable for human habitation hill today. There is only one forest monk, a veteran ex-soldier in a small timber monastery built on a peak who braves this wild isolation.
The layend of this Hill, unlike those of the other Hills does not contain the arrival of the Buddha and his divine prophesy, or Saint in meditation or the deer hunt by a King or the search for herbal plant by a medicine man or the experiment of a mercury compound [philosopher stone] by an alchemist. The legend is just the pathetic story of a pretty local maiden of King Anawrahta’s time.
Anawrahta [1044-1077 AD] was the 42nd ruler in the Bagan dynasty of 55 kings. The Bagan Period 9th to 13th century AD was one of the three peaks of Myanmar history. The story of this Hill was in fact not legend but a series of events which did happen in Bagan history. Unlike Hindu deities and Greek gods and goddesses of Olympus fame, the 37 nat spirits of Myanmar Pantheon were originally humans who had lived but who met untimely end and due to their violent deaths. They became wandering spirits untill they were given dwelling places by royal order. Seven nat spirits of the 37 total belonged to Anawrahta’s time. The couple Byatta and Mei Wunna at Popa Hill, two Shwe Hpyin brothers at Taungpyone village, Mandalay Bodaw at Mandalay Hill and Ma Shwe U and Ko Yin Maung at Inkyin village and Yin Kat Hill.
Here goes Ma Shwe U’s tragedy. A certain Ko Shwe Thee of Shan descent who was a native of Kantbalu, a small town in Shwebo District, Upper Myanmar was in the service of the King Anawrahta since he was a lad. Because of his honesty, loyalty and good service the King awarded him a headmanship. With the royal consent, he made a settlement at the place of his choice. At the foot of Mya Thein Tan Hill a few distance to the north-east of Mandalay Hill he cleared the jungle and settled there. Thus a village named Einchi, later Inkyin grew. He was the village headman. A pretty daughter was born to his wife Daw Oh Zar. They named her Ma Shwe U [Miss Golden Egg] because she was very pretty. Grown up into a young pretty maiden with good character and manner, her name spread.
King Anawrahta was returning from China bringing back religious relics and royal gifts from Chinese Emperer. With him were two brothers Shwe Hpyin Gyi and Shwe Hpyin Nge, his two brave knights, sons of his adopted son Byatta who was mighty equestrian soldier. At a place called Taungpyone Gyi the King made a long sojourn to build Hsu Taung Pyi Pagoda to enshrine sacred relics. Everyone of the royal entourage was required to contribute a brick and a handful of sand to the construction of the Pagoda.
The two brothers often went out to Inkyin village to court the beauty queen of the locality Ma Shwe U. Her father asked them to prove their strength and might by lifting a big boulder from the Hill and throwing it down. Without much ado, they performed it. You can still see the stone in the compound of their house and the village used to be called Kyauk Kyi Kya village [The village of a big stone drop]. But the beauty queen Ma Shwe U persistently turned down their love overtures.
To avoid the troublesome brothers, Ma Shwe U and her parents moved to Kaby village. But the brothers followed them there. Again poor Ma Shwe U and parents had to flee to Taungpyone Gyi village but in vain for the brothers did not give up their attempts to impose their love on her. Ma Shwe U became impatient and very angry and she yelled at them and cursed them.
In their love adventure and foolish craze for Ma Shwe U, the two brothers had totally forgotten their duty of providing their share of religious contribution. They were doomed. Anawrahta put them to death for negligence of duty and defiance of royal order. They became nat spirits, appearing before the King to ask reward for their services. The King gave them the fief of Taungpyone Gyi, biult a shrine for them and ordered the local people to venerate the two nat spirit brothers.
It seemed quite safe for Ma Shwe U when the two molesting brothers were executed by the King. Her parents married her to a good young man Ko Yin Maung, son of their friends in the village of Hnan Kyè. Later Ko Yin Maung was sent to Meiza Shweli for logging and selling teak wood so that the newly wed couple would get wealth.
Ma Shwe U, left with her parents was happy weaving a new longyi for her husband, at her hand loom. The two nat spirit brothers frequented her, still trying to win her love by force. She abused them and cursed them. The younger brother was angry and decided to feed her to his tiger. The older brother told him to give her up as she was now married. But the younger brother had his way. He made his tiger carry Ma Shwe U on its back, torturing her at the command of its master. Every time the younger brother made attempt to impose his love on her Ma Shwe U flatly refused cursing him. Then she was taken up to the summit of Yin Kat Hill and finally into a ravine where the younger brother fed her to his tiger when he received from her “no” to his last attempt. Ma Shwe U became nat spirit. The younger brother gave her Yin Kat Hill for her dwelling place. Since then the Hill came to be known as Mei U Taung Hill. Ma Shwe U’s spirit appeared before Ko Yin Maung and related her tragic story and violent death. Ko Yin Maung was deeply moved and he suddenly died of broken heart to become nat spirit.
All along the way the tiger carried Ma Shwe U up to the summit and ravine of Yin Kat Hill, there are four nat shrines, land marking the tortures inflicted upon her by Shwe Hpyin Nge-Khasi Kya shrine on the site where her belt dropped from her body, Tha Tit Kya shrine at the place where a piece of flesh from her body dropped, Thway set Kya shine where her blood welled out due to tiger scratch and Kya Gu the ravine where she was devoured by the tiger. Just by the side of Kya Gu is a cluster of Tharaphee fragrant flower trees, 37 in number, believed to have grown out of the garland of Tharaphee flowers dropped from Ma Shwe U’s hair knot. Though the original trees had died, new generations continue to grow to tell Ma Shwe U’s tragic end.
Until the great Hermit U Khanti started developing the Hill, there was no Buddhist monuments on this Hill. Only nat spirit shrines dotted the entire area. Even the Hermit, for the satisfaction of the local believers, first built the nat spirit shrines. On the south side at the foot of the Hill was built a big spacious iron pavilion under which are slightly larger than live size iron statues of Ko Yin Maung cast by iron sculptor Saya Thein in 1938, Ma Shwe U and Shwe Hpyin Gyi and Shwe Hpyin Nge riding tiger on either side of her in separate apartments, cast by a sculptor Saya Sein of Mandalay, each statue weighing 700 viss of iron. The reclining statue of the great Hermit U Khan Ti is placed in front of them. Higher up are some Buddhist monuments — a Buddha Image in a devotional hall, covered stairways up the Hill, small pagodas, a Buddha’s Foot Print and some zayats [rest houses].
On the summit is a 9-apartment iron pavilion with statues of Ma Shwe U and her nat spirit female friends — Ma Ngwe Taung Thakhin Ma, Sayadaw Thakhinma, Anauk ein daw Thakhinma in worshipping posture to the Buddha. In the ravine at Kya Gu which is a brick and iron building, there is an iron statue of Ma Shwe U cast in 1936 flanked by two tiger statues and the iron statue of her female attendant nat spirit Ma Saw Khin cast in 1930 weighing 2851 viss. Facing Kya Gu is recently built Su Taung Pyi Pagoda where local people occasionally gather to perform religious deeds. Except the lonely hermitage of the forest monk mentioned earlier there is no one living up on the Hill.
Today the Hill is in the custody of the Forest Department, Upper Myanmar and it is designated as Forest Reserve area covering 1874 acres. Few monasteries, nunneries and forester’s quarters are springing up on the eastside, leading to Kya Gu. Ma Shwe U’s house, her hand loom and a big stone boulder are museum pieces in Inkyin Village within walking distance from the Hill. A shrine housing Ma Shwe U statue is found there. The descendants of her parents still live there. Every year on the 4th waxing moon of Tagu [April] “Tharaphee flower gathering festival is held at Kya Gu. Believers participate in it. Occasionally propitiatory ceremonies are held in the compound of her house at Inkyin village.
Social and educational development programmes are in full implementation in this corner of Mandalay. Primary and middle schools have full attendance. Health and social services reach out to Inkyin village and all other villages around it. In addition to paddy and other crops, villages keep vegetable gardens and their products find their way to markets in Mandalay.
Mei U Taung Hill is a small distance from Kya Nee Kan Monastery which is situated prominently on the way to Taungpyone Gyi.