Diamond is the strongest mineral found on earth. Diamond is also the
most precious and the most priceless jewel. In Europe, during the middle
age, diamonds were assumed to be the reflectors of Jesus Christ.
In Myanmar, since many eras ago, diamonds were regarded as the most
sacred elements on earth, and were offered to pagodas as the Diamond
Orb, located at the topmost of the pagoda.
The magnificent Shwe Dagon Pagoda has a Diamond Orb with the height of 1
foot 10 inches, and the diameter of 31.4 inches. A total 4,351 diamonds
are embedded in it, with the total Rati of 2,000. On top of the Orb, a
big diamond, weighing 83 Rati is attached.
A real diamond is clear like crystal, and sparkles brightly when cut
perfectly. The value of the diamonds changes in the hands of the diamond
cutters. The better the cut, the more the glitter.
Diamonds are mostly known to be in transparent color, but there are some
diamonds found in colors. The colors are such as light gray, yellowish,
brownish, and greenish. Some other very rare colors are reddish,
pinkish and bluish. The bluish diamond is often mistaken as sapphire.
In Myanmar, there were a fact about the blue diamond which caused an
exotic case to the world. The case started from the diamond embedded on
the forehead of a Buddha Image in Ananda Temple, Bagan. The diamond was
stolen from the image and many people who had the diamond were cursed
and ended their lives with unexpected deaths. The background history of
the blue diamond still remains a mystery.
The Blue Diamond and Joseph Tavernier
Joseph Tavernier was a rich French gems merchant, who came frequently to
India for trading. As he came to India and crossed to Myanmar, he met a
Chieftain. The Chieftain was Mine Hsoe Maha Yaza Sawbwar who was a
wealthy man and was well known as a collector of precious gems and
stones, in the region.
One day when Joseph Tavernier visited the palace of the Mine Hsoe Maha
Yaza Sawbwar. The Chieftain showed him one of his jewels, which was the
precious royal blue diamond from his depository. Joseph was amazed, when
he saw the blue diamond and started to praise about the beauty and the
value of the diamond. Then the Chieftain told him that the stone he had
is incomparable to the
Blue Diamond embedded on the forehead of the
Buddha Image in the Ananda Temple at Bagan.
Joseph could not resist seeing the diamond and came to Bagan through many difficulties and dangers.
He offered gifts and other offertories to the Myanmar King and started
to praise about the Blue Diamond that he had heard about. He told about
the dangerous journey he made to Bagan, just to see the priceless stone.
Then he requested for permission to see the diamond. The King granted
his wish and let him see the diamond at the Ananda Temple. The board of
trustees was monks who guarded the Ananda temple.
The monks of the board showed Joseph not only the diamond embedded in the Buddha but also other jewels in the temple.
As soon as Joseph saw the Blue Diamond, his greed grew higher and higher
that he could stop thinking about the diamond and at the same time, he
started to plan how to steal it. He found out that the best way was to
be a part of the board of trustees, so he asked permission to become a
monk. He used tricks saying that the Budhha's teaching mostly
overwhelmed him and wanted to become a monk. The board members accepted
his requested and granted him to become a monk.
So, Joseph, now the Buddhist monk, started his duties to guard the temple with two other monks.
One night, when the time was right for him, Joseph strangled the other two monks, and stole the Blue Diamond from the Temple.
The Blue Diamond and the Goldsmith
The gems merchant Joseph Tavernier tried to sell the diamond that he
stole in France, but no one was ready to buy it. So, he went to Antwerp
city and showed his stone to one of the goldsmith. The Blue Diamond
weighed more than 100 Rati (nearly an ounce) and the color was amazing.
But the goldsmith said that there were some damaged parts and if it was
cut into two and to make some polishing, the diamond will be more
precious. So, Joseph left the diamond and went to India again. On his
way to India, a tiger killed him, and that was the end of Joseph
Tavernier.
While in Antwerp, the goldsmith cut the diamond into two and replenished
it again. He waited for Joseph, but the goldsmith was killed by one of
his assistant. His assistant ran away with the diamonds but robbers
killed him on his way to another city. After that the story of the
diamond was lost for a while.
The Blue Diamond and King Louis (XVI)
Strangely, the story of the Blue Diamond appeared again during the reign
of the French King, Louis the XVI. King Louis XVI gave his queen Marie
Antoinette the diamond and it was embedded on the crown of the queen.
The diamond was marked as a national treasure of the French colony.
There was a great match between the precious diamond and the beautiful
queen. But the greatnesses did not last for long.
The French revolution started and King Louis XIV was dethroned. In 1782,
the French developed a National Constitution with new rules and
regulations, demolishing the Monarchy rules and the Convention declared a
Republic of the country.In 1793, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were
beheaded.
The crown with the blue diamond and other royal jewels were attained in
the Royal Palace Museum for many years. But during the reign of terror,
thieves broke into the museum and many precious types of attire were
stolen. The blue diamond was also stolen and was the news of the diamond
was lost again.
The Blue Diamond and Sir Henry Thomas Hope
The diamond stolen from the French Museum was sold to an English jeweler
named Fox. The seller of the stone was unknown. His son stole the
diamond from Fox but soon he killed himself. Before he died, he sold the
diamond to a man named Francis with a very low price.
Francis then again sold the stone to Daniel Elson. When Daniel went to
see Francis again after buying the stone, Francis was found to be dead
in his own bed. Daniel kept the diamond until 1830. Then he sold the
diamond to Sir Henry Thomas Hope with the price of £18,000. Hope was a
millionaire who bought the diamond to make a necklace and to give it as a
present to his wife on her birthday. Hope did not believe in spells and
curses, so he named the diamond as the "Hope Diamond". He gave the
necklace to his wife, but later on their only son died in a car
accident. Hope too died soon with an unexpected death. The Hope family
went bankrupt and faced many unexpected dangers.
The Blue Diamond and The Dancer
It was 1908, some years before the World War I, the news of the Blue
Diamond emerged again. A jeweler named Claude sold the diamond to the
Russian Royal blood Prince Ivan Kanitovski. Unfortunately, Claude never
got the whole amount of the diamond and he killed himself too.
Prince Ivan Kanitovski gave the diamond to a girl whom he was in love
with. She was a famous French Dancer who was also loved by her audience.
After accepting the diamond from the Prince, she was killed on stage
while performing. As the ill fate follows, the Prince was also killed on
the streets of Paris, after two days of his beloved dancer's death. The
killer was unknown and the fact that killed him was also unknown.
The Blue Diamond and The Sultan of Turkey
Again, the Blue Diamond was in the hand of a Greek jeweler. He sold the
stone to the Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II. The curse still carries
on and more deaths occurred.
The Greek couple that sold the diamond died in an accident. Also that
the Sultan who bought the diamond, went crazy and died.
The son of the Sultan ruled the throne of Turkey after his father's
death, together with the diamond in his possession. He like many of the
diamond's previous owners met an untimely death by the Young Turk
Revolution.
The Blue Diamond and Mrs. McLean
In 1911, from an American jeweler, Mrs. McLean bought the diamond
necklace. At that time, the price of the diamond was £ 52,000. Soon
after buying the necklace, Mrs. McLean's son Vinson McLean died in a car
crash.
After all these happenings, the gems merchants and jewelers accepted the
Hope Diamond to be really cursed.>
The Blue Diamond and Kodak Millionaire
Eastman Kodak Company is a worldwide known company. The owner of the
company was George Eastman. He was the first man to invent the easy to
use Roll Film in the cameras. He became a millionaire with those
products. He also invented the Kodak cameras.
George Eastman bought the Blue Diamond before World War II, during 1929.
He offered the highest price and possessed the diamond. After some
times, he became fed up of the world and the things around him. The
Kodak company that he owned alone was then divided into shares and sold
to public. He donated millions of dollars to hospitals.
In 1931, he awarded the first price of the photography with US$ 30,000.
Many other prices were awarded to the worldwide participants in the
contest.
Soon after the event, George Eastman killed himself. In his death will,
he had written that he had already done what should be done and he did
not want to live any more.
As the legend goes with its curse, the blue diamond was in the
possession of the last owner, Harry Winston. He donated the diamond to
the Smithsonian Institution in the United States of American.
So the curse of the Blue Diamond from Ananda Temple of Bagan seems to be ended at the Smithsonian Museum.
Reference:
Wint Htel, The Blue Diamond from Bagan and the Cursed
If you would like to know more about the above topic, please refer to
1) Blue Mystery : The Story of the Hope Diamond
by Susanne Steinem Patch
ISBN: 0810927977
2) Hope : Adventures of a Diamond
by MARIAN FOWLER
ISBN: 0345444868
3) HOPE DIAMOND REFUSES
by IRIS OWENS
ISBN: 0394518306
