Shwedagon Pagoda

Shwedagon Paya is often visited for its grand scale.

The Shwedagon Paya (Burmese: File:Bscript shwedagonpaya.png‌; MLCTS: hrwe ti. gum. bhu. ra:; officially titled Shwedagon Zedi Daw) is a 98 meter gilded stupa located in Yangon, Myanmar. The Paya lies to the west of the Royal Lake on Singuttara Hill thus dominating the skyline of the city. It is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda for the Burmese with relics of the past four Buddhas enshrined within, namely the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Konagamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa and eight hairs of Gautama, the historical Buddha.

History

Legend has it that the Shwedagon Paya is 2500 years old. Archeologists believe the stupa was actually built sometime between the 6th and 10th centuries by the Mon, but this is a very controversial issue because according to the records by Buddhist monks it was built before Lord Buddha died in BC 486. The story of Shwedagon Paya begins with two merchant brothers meeting the Lord Gautama Buddha and receiving eight of the Buddha's hairs to be enshirned in Burma. The two brothers made their way to Burma and with the help of the local king found Singuttara Hill where other Buddha relics had been enshrined. When the hairs were taken from their golden casket to be enshrined some incredible things happened:

There was a tumult among men and spirits ... rays emitted by the Hairs penetrated up to the heavans above and down to hell ... the blind beheld objects ... the deaf heard sounds ... the dumb spoke distinctly ... the earth quaked ... the winds of the ocean blew ... Mount Meru shook ... lightning flashed ... gems rained down until they were knee deep ... all trees of the Himalayas, though not in season, bore blossoms and fruit.

The stupa fell into disrepair until the 14th century when King Binnya U of Bago had the stupa rebuilt to a height of 18 meters. It was rebuilt several times and reached its current height of 98 meters in the 15th century. A series of earthquakes during the next centuries caused damage. The worst damage came from a 1768 earthquake that brought down the top of the stupa and it was raised to its current state by King Hsinbyushin (lit. Lord of the White Elephant) of Konbaung Dynasty. A new hti or crown was donated by King Mindon in 1871 after the annexation of Lower Burma by the British.

Design

There are four entrances (mouk) to the Paya that lead up a flight of steps to the platform (yin byin) on Singuttara Hill. The eastern and southern approaches have vendors selling books, good luck charms, Buddha images, candles, gold leaf, incense sticks, prayer flags, streamers, miniature umbrellas and flowers. Two giant chinthe (leogryphs, mythical lions) guard the southern entrance and the image in the shrine at the top of the steps is that of the second Buddha, Konagamana. The base or plinth of the stupa is made of bricks covered with gold plates. Above the base are terraces (pyissayan) that only monks and men can access. Next is the bell-shaped part (khaung laung bon) of the stupa. Above that is the turban (baung yit), then the inverted almsbowl (thabeik), inverted and upright lotus petals (kya hmauk kya hlan), the banana bud (nga pyaw bu) and then the crown. The crown or umbrella (hti) is tipped with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies. The very top, the diamond bud (sein bu) is tipped with a 76 carat (15 g) diamond.

The Gold seen on the stupa is made of genuine gold plates, covering the brick structure attached by traditional rivets. Myanmar people all over the country, as well as monarchs in its history,have donated gold to the pagoda to maintain it. It was started in th fifteenth century by the Mon Queen Shin Saw Bu who gave her weight in gold and continues to this day.

Rituals

Visitors must remove their shoes before the first step at any of the entrances. The southern and eastern approaches have traditional shops with wide gradual staircases. In addition the southern approach has an elevator and the infrequently used western one is equipped with escalators. Burmese walk around the stupa clockwise (let ya yit). The day of the week a person is born will determine their planetary post, eight in all as Wednesday is split in two, a.m. and p.m. They are marked by animals that represent the day, galon (garuda) for Sunday (ta nin ganway), tiger for Monday (ta nin la), lion for Tuesday (in ga), tusked elephant for Wednesday a.m.(bouddahu), tuskless elephant for Wednesday p.m. (yahu), mouse for Thursday (kyatha baday), guinea pig for Friday (thaukkya) and naga (mythical dragon/serpent) for Saturday (sanay). Each planetary post has a Buddha image and devotees offer flowers and prayer flags and pour water on the image with a prayer and a wish. The base of the stupa is octagonal and also surrounded by small shrines, eight in number for each day of the week.

Shwedagon in Literature

Rudyard Kipling described his 1889 visit to Shwedagon paya ten years later in From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches-- Letters of Travel vol. 1 (1899). See External Links below for full text.

Then, a golden mystery upheaved itself on the horizon, a beautiful winking wonder that blazed in the sun, of a shape that was neither Muslim dome nor Hindu temple-spire. It stood upon a green knoll, and below it were lines of warehouses, sheds, and mills. Under what new god, thought I, are we irrepressible English sitting now?

‘There’s the old Shway Dagon’ (pronounced Dagone, not like the god in the Scriptures), said my companion. ‘Confound it!’ But it was not a thing to be sworn at. It explained in the first place why we took Rangoon, and in the second why we pushed on to see what more of rich or rare the land held. Up till that sight my uninstructed eyes could not see that the land differed much in appearance from the Sunderbuns, but the golden dome said: ‘This is Burma, and it will be quite unlike any land you know about.’ ‘It’s a famous old shrine o’ sorts,’ said my companion, ‘and now the Tounghoo-Mandalay line is open, pilgrims are flocking down by the thousand to see it. It lost its big gold top—’thing that they call a ’htee—in an earthquake: that’s why it’s all hidden by bamboo-work for a third of its height. You should see it when it’s all uncovered. They’re regilding it now.’

War and Invasion

In 1608 the Portugese adventurer Philip de Brito y Nicote, known as Nga Zinka to the Burmese, plundered the Shwe Dagon and took the 30 ton bell donated in 1485 by King Dhammazedi who succeeded Shin Saw Bu. De Brito's intention was to melt the bell down to make cannons, but when he carried it across the Bago River it dropped into the river never to be recovered.

Two centuries later when the British landed on 11 May 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War, they immediately seized and occupied the Shwe Dagon, seeing it as a fortress in a commanding position over the city, and the stupa remained as such until they left two years later. There was pillaging and vandalism, and one officer's excuse for digging a tunnel into the depths of the stupa was to find out if it could be used as a gunpowder magazine! The Maha Gandha (lit. great sweet sound) Bell, a 23 ton bronze bell cast in 1779 and donated by King Singu and popularly known as the Singu Min Bell, was carried off with the intention to ship it to Calcutta. It met the same fate as the Dhammazedi Bell and fell into the river. When the British failed in their attempts to recover it, the people offered to help provided it could be restored to the stupa. The British, thinking it would be in vain, agreed, upon which divers went in to tie hundreds of bamboo poles underneath the bell and floated it to the surface. There has been much confusion over this bell and the 42 ton Maha Tissada (three- toned) Gandha Bell donated in 1841 by King Tharrawaddy along with 20 kg. of gold plating; this massive ornate bell - only the Mingun Bell is larger than this - hangs in its pavilion in the northeast corner of the stupa. A different but less plausible version of the account of the Singu Min Bell was given by Lt. J.E.Alexander in 1827[1]. This bell can be seen hung in another pavilion in the northwest of the pagoda platform.

The Second Anglo-Burmese War saw the British re-occupation of the Shwe Dagon in April 1852, only this time the stupa was to remain under their military control for 77 years until 1929, although the people were given access to the Paya.

Political Arena

The Shwe Dagon was, during the second university strike in history of 1936, where the students camped out. In January 1946, General Aung San addressed a mass meeting at the stupa, demanding "independence now" from the British with a thinly veiled threat of a general strike and uprising. Forty two years later, on 26 August 1988, his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi addressed another mass meeting of 500,000 people at the stupa, demanding democracy from the military regime and calling the 8888 Uprising the second struggle for independence.

Gallery

Shwedagon Paya

Shwedagon Paya
Shwedagon Paya at night
Outside the gates
Buddhists praying
Intricate ceiling
Jade Buddha
Buddha statues

References

Martin, Steve (2002). Lonely Planet Myanmar(Burma). Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1740591909.
Elliot, Mark (2003). South-East Asia: The Graphic Guide. Trailblazer Publications. ISBN 1873756674.