Thamala is the elder of the two princely brothers of the Hanthawaddy founding legend, sprung in tradition from the royal line of Thaton. Sailing the gulf, they came upon a small island in a lake where a hen sheldrake stood upon the back of the cock for want of room, the very omen the Buddha was said to have foretold, and there founded the city of Haṃsāvatī, 'she who bears the hamsa', the future Pegu. The chronicles make Thamala the first to reign but recount a bitter rivalry with his brother over the throne, a discord that colours the Mon memory of their old capital.