Shwe Dagon Pagoda
 The
most notable building in Yangon is
the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, a great
cone-shaped Buddhist monument that
crowns a hill about one mile north
of the Cantonment. The pagoda itself
is a solid brick stupa (Buddhist
reliquary) that is completely
covered with gold.
It rises 326 feet (99 m) on a hill
168 feet (51 m) above the city.
Structure
 The
perimeter of the base of the Pagoda
is 1,420 fee and its height 326 feet
above the platform. The base is
surrounded by 64 small pagodas with
four larger, one in the center of
each side.
There also are 4 sphinxes, one at
each corner with 6 leogryphs, 3 on
each side of them. Projecting beyond
the base of the Pagoda, one on the
cener of each side are Tazaungs in
which are images of the Buddha and
where offerings are made.
There are also figures of elephants
crouching and men kneeling, and
pedestals for offerings all around
the base. In front of the 72 shrines
surrounding the base of the Pagoda,
you will find in several places
images of lions, serpents, ogres,
yogis, spirits, or Wathundari
(Recording Secretary Angel).
On the wall below the first terrace
of the Pagoda at the WSW and WNW
corners, you will see embossed
figures. The former represents King
Okkalapa who first built the Pagoda.
The latter is a pair of figures; the
one above represents Sakka who
assisted in foundation of the
Pagoda, and the one below, Me Lamu,
consort of Sakka and mother of
Okkalapa.
Tunnels
There are 4 entrances leading into
the base of this great Shwe Dagon
Pagoda. No one is sure what is
inside. According to some legendary
tales, there are flying and turning
swords that never stop, which
protect the pagoda from intruders;
some says there are even underground
tunnels that leads to Bagan and
Thailand!
The 10 Parts of Shwe Dagon Pagoda
1. The Diamond Bud (Sein-phoo)
2. The Vane
3. The Crown (Htee)
4. The Plantain Bud-Shaped
Bulbous Spire (Hnet-pyaw-phu)
5. The Ornamental Lotus Flower (Kyar-lan)
6. The Embossed Bands (Bang-yit)
7. The Inverted Bowl (Thabeik)
8. The Bell (Khaung-laung-pon)
9. The 3 Terraces (Pichayas)
10. The Base
Table of Contents on Each Parts
|
Part |
Diamond |
Gold |
Precious Stones |
|
Bud |
4,350 pieces,
weighing 2,000 ratis |
9,272 plates of 1 foot square,
weighing 5004 ounces |
93 pieces |
|
Vane |
1,090 pieces,
weighing 240 ratis |
|
1,338 pieces |
|
Crown |
|
1,065 gold bells |
886 pieces |
The Gold Plating of the Pagoda
In order to make the gilding stand
the weather, the Trustees after the
year 1900, decided
to cover the bulbous spire, called
the plantain bud with gold plates,
each plate measuring 1 foot square
and weighing 5 ticals of gold (0.18
pound). Subscriptions were called
for and the work commenced in 1903,
when the whole plantain bud was
covered. It is on record that 4 such
gold plates were donated by the late
King George, V (then Price of
Wales) and Queen Mary when they
visited Myanmar in 1906.
Background History
Legend has it that Tapussa and
Bhallika brought the original sacred
hairs of Buddha from India across
the ocean. On their way to Myanmar,
the two brothers were relieved of 2
hairs by the King of Ajetta, and 2
more were robbed by the King of
Nagas, who transformed himself into
the likness of a human being and
boarded the ship at night.
On arrival in Myanmar, a great
festival was celebrated in honour of
the sacred hairs for several days.
Sakka, Lord of the Heaven, came down
to earth and assisted in the
selection of the site; but he had to
invoke the aid of the 4 apirits:
Sule, Amyitha, Yawhani, and Dakkhina.
Legend has it that Tapussa and
Bhallika brought the original sacred
hairs of Buddha from India across
the ocean. On their way to Myanmar,
the two brothers were relieved of 2
hairs by the King of Ajetta, and 2
more were robbed by the King of
Nagas, who transformed himself into
the likness of a human being and
boarded the ship at night. On
arrival in Myanmar, a great festival
was celebrated in honour of the
sacred hairs for several days. Sakka,
Lord of the Heaven, came down to
earth and assisted in the selection
of the site; but he had to invoke
the aid of the 4 apirits: Sule,
Amyitha, Yawhani, and Dakkhina.
 Relices
of the 3 proceding Buddhas were
exacavated under their direction in
one spot, and were buried there
again along with the sacred hairs
brought by the 2 brothers. Before
placing them in the vault dug on the
hill, King Okkalapa opened the
casket containing the hairs of
instead of 4, 8 hairs flew up to the
height of seven palm trees emitting
rays of variegated hues with such a
dazzle that the dumb could speak,
the deaf could hear, and the lame
could walk, and a rain of jewels
fell knee-deep. A golden stone slab
was placed on top of the vault by
Sakka and on it was erected a golden
pagoda enclosed within silver, tin,
copper, lead, marble, and iron brick
pagodas up to a height of 66 feet.
Relices of the 3 proceding Buddhas
were exacavated under their
direction in one spot, and were
buried there again along with the
sacred hairs brought by the 2
brothers. Before placing them in the
vault dug on the hill, King Okkalapa
opened the casket containing the
hairs of instead of 4, 8 hairs flew
up to the height of seven palm trees
emitting rays of variegated hues
with such a dazzle that the dumb
could speak, the deaf could hear,
and the lame could walk, and a rain
of jewels fell knee-deep. A golden
stone slab was placed on top of the
vault by Sakka and on it was erected
a golden pagoda enclosed within
silver, tin, copper, lead, marble,
and iron brick pagodas up to a
height of 66 feet.
Up to the 14th century, not much was
known of the Pagoda. In AD 1372,
Binnya U, King of Hantharwaddy (Bago)
visited Yangon in state the repaired
the Pagoda. Successive Kings of
Myanmar repaired or re-gilt it till
the Shwe Dagon reached its present
size some 5 centuries ago.
The little town of Okkala has since
grown into the city of Yangopn, but
it has no greater glory than the
gleaming golden shrine, the spire of
which rises majetically into the sky
as if conscious of the veneration
which the pagoda invokes. The Shwe
Dagon apparently begain to assume
its importance as a place of
religious verneation during the
years of the Mon Kingdom of Bago
roughly coinciding with the reigns
of Binnya U, Binnya Dammayaza,
Binnyaran, Binnyawaru, and
Binnyagyan. But it was in the time
of Queen Shin Sawpu that it first
assumed something of its present
shape and appearance. Shinsawpu,
Queen Regnant of Hantharwaddy,
during 1455-62 improved the pagoda,
for which she built the terrace, the
great balustrade and the several
encircling walls, and dedicated a
vast area of blebe lands. She gilded
the pagoda from top to bottom with
gold leaves equal to her body
weight. She set up a town on the
northwest of the pagoda in the
locality now known as Myenigone, so
that she might supervise all the
works of merit at the pagoda. Her
brother and immediate predecessor
Binnyagyan had raised the pagoda to
to a height of 302 feet.
King Dhamazedi, Shinsawpu's
son-in-law and successor, erected
inscriptions relating the legend of
teh foundation of the pagoda. He
also offered a great bell said to
weigh 180,000 viss (648,000 lb) of
bronze, which the Poruguese
adventurer, Phillippe de Brito
removed around 1608, so that he
might cast the bronze into cannons.
The great bell was named Dhamazedi
Bell and it really is the largest
bell in the whole world. But on the
way to Than Lyin (Syriam), of which
he was the lord, the boat bearing
the great bell sank in the river.
The Pagoda was reverenced by
Bayinnaung, his son Nandabayin,
Anaukpetlun, Minredeippa, and
Tharlun. King Alaungphayar
worshipped at the Shwe Dagon and
embellished it by re-gilding.
Shinbyushin, King of Ava, raised the
pagoda to its present height in 1774
and made a new crown (Htee) for it
gilding it with his own body weight
in gold. King Singu, son of
Sinbyushin, in 1778 regilt the
pagoda again, and cast a bell which
weighed 55,555 viss (~16 tons) of
bronze. It stands at the north-west
corner of the pagoda platform.
After the First Anglo-Burman War of
1824, this bell was taken by the
Prize Agents, but it sank to the
bottom of the river and was
refloated and replaced at the pagoda
by the Myanmar public. King
Tharrawaddy in 1841 set up a town on
the west side of the pagoda, regilt
it with 12 viss (~20 lb) of pure
gold and cast a bell 26,000 viss
(~40 tons). It stands at the
north-east corner of the platform.
King Mindon, who founded Mandalay in
1857, sent down a new golden crown
by a steamer to Yangon in October
1871, when Lower Myanmar was already
under the British rule. In 1919
there was an earthquake and the
Trustees repaired the diamond bud,
and vane and replaced them in two
years later at a cost of a million
rupees.
The pagoda has stood ravages of time
and the inclemencies of teh weather,
having been afflicted with
earthquakes on no less than 8 times
in 1564, 1628, 1649, 1661, 1664,
1769, 1888, and 1919, and with a
serious fire in 1931. It still looks
sombre and majestic and perhaps you
will agree with Ralph Fitch, who
says "It is the fairest place, as I
suppose, that is in the world."
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