The art of marble carving
Among stones, marble is rated the best in texture, hardness and beauty.
In Burma, marble is called Sagyin, which derives from Sagyin hill. Sagyin was originally the name of the village in Madaya Township, 21 miles north of Mandalay.
The mountain range consists of seven hills, four to the north and three to the south of the village. Because the range lies near Sagyin Village, it became known as the Sagyin Hills, and the marble quarried there is called Sagyin marble. As the Sagyin Hill range is an offshoot of the mountains of Mogok, the world’s best ruby land, there are some ruby mines in Sagyin Hills. But the hills are more well-known for their marble which varies in colour from pure white to bluish grey.
Marble Buddha statues
Marble blocks are carefully carved into Buddha images of different styles and sent to Buddhist monasteries all around Burma.
Nowadays more work is done by machines, but in the past everything was done by hand.
Share this page
