The Pagoda Bell - Reading, PA
Posted by: 
Janila
N 40° 20.162 W 075° 54.342
18T E 423070 N 4465449
Just when you think you can't make it one more step, you are at the seventh level of the Reading Pagoda and hanging right in front of you is the Pagoda Bell.
Waymark Code: WMYYBT
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 08/10/2018
Views: 1
For the bargain price of $1, you can climb the 87 stairs to the top of the Reading Pagoda and view the Pagoda bell once you finish huffing and puffing!
From the PagodaSkyline.org website:
William A. Witman Sr. ordered the bell through the A. A. Valentine Agency of Broadway New York, an Photo by D.P. Reinert exporter and importer. The bell traveled through the Suez Canal and reached New York on April 19, 1907. Traveling from New York by railroad, it arrived in Reading on May 5, 1907.
The bell was cast in Obata in 1739 by a man named Mikawaya, who along with 47 other men, presented it to Shozenji (Buddhist Temple) at Yakuosan, now part of Tokyo. Several different translations have been made of the bell's inscription; however, most scholars agree that the inscription contains the names of the bell's donors and a prophesy regarding the end of time.
When the bell was installed, it was complete with its original striker. Oriental bells, unlike western bells, do not have clappers.
I just uncovered this interesting tidbit from the Uncovering PA website. https://uncoveringpa.com/reading-pagoda
This bell was cast in Japan in 1739 in Obata, Mie Prefecture. It once hung in a Buddhist temple in either Ogose or Hanno, just north of Tokyo. After the temple was closed, the bell was purchased by Witman in 1906 and arrived in Reading in 1907. It has hung in the top of the Pagoda since it was built.
I have to admit that I didn't know that last item. In fact, I actually stuck my hand up into the bell to look for a claper and was confused when I didn't find one. Now I know!
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