Efforts to rediscover a heavy bell that was lost at the intersection of three rivers have begun again to the south of Myanmar’s old capital Yangon.
Divers are searching for an old bell that was commissioned for King Dhammazedi in 1476 as reported by the Associated Press. The bell, which is made of bronze, is said to be the largest bell ever cast. The bell apparently weighs 270 tons and was donated by the King to the Shwedagon pagoda according to Angle News.
The bell stayed at the pagoda until the early 1600s, when it was stolen by a Portuguese pirate named Philip de Brito. In the midst of sailing away, Brito’s boat sunk at the meeting point of the Yangon and Bago rivers and the Pazundaung Creek, taking the heavy bell down with it. Since the bell’s sinking, numerous people have attempted to retrieve the bell without success, due to heavy silt burying it and strong currents.
Now a man named Win Myint has organized an expedition of 70 people to attempt to salvage the bell once again and return it to its proper place at the Shwedagon pagoda. The project might last up to 45 days and will cost about $200,000.