The Shwedagon is the greatest pagoda of its kind in the world, comparable in size and grandeur to the Angkor Wat of Cambodia and the Boro Budur of Indonesia. "Shwe" means gold and Dagon is a former name of Yangon. Hence, Shwedagon means the golden pagoda at the city of Dagon, It is believed to have been built nearly 2600 years ago, that is, during the Buddha's life time. According to the legend of the pagoda, two trader brothers from Myanmar, by the names of Tapussa and Bhallika, led a caravan of bullock-carts to India and there they came across the Buddha who had recently attained His Enlightenment or Buddhahood.

The two brothers offered honey balls and another kind of cake called Kywet kyit cake to the Buddha and received in return eight strands of the latter's hair. The two brothers and their followers joyfully returned to their native town Okkalapa which was an even older names of Yangon.The Ruler of Okkalapa who had received the wonderful news in advance welcomed the sacred hairs with great pomp and ceremony. Then the hairs were enshrined in a zedi or pagoda which was specially erected for the purpose, amidst . The sacred relics of three other Buddhas of this world are also said to be enshrined in the pagoda .So you can imagine how profoundly Buddhists all over the world revere this pagoda. According to traditional Buddhist cosmology, there are innumerable kalpas or worlds in the universe only some of which are blessed with the appearance of Buddhas.One to five Buddhas may appear in some worlds while none may appear at all in others. Such Buddhaless worlds are known as zero worlds. Those where five Buddhas arise are called Badda Worlds (kalpas) and our world is one of them. So far, four Buddhas have visited our world the last of whom was Siddhartha Gautama of Kapilavastu in India.

One Buddha is yet to appear in our world and devout Buddhists are preparing themselves for His Advent. A Buddha means an enlightened one -- a human being who attains Buddha: hood by means of His discovery of the Four Noble Truths. Of course, His realization of ~e Four Noble Truths is at a much higher level than that of ordinary human beings. Buddhas appear in some worlds at certain times to guide erring creatures- to their liberation. D. According to one oft-quoted saying, as many Buddhas as the number of grains of sand in the Ganges River have appeared so far. The pagoda was only 66 feet high when it WAS first built. It attained its present height and shape only in the 14th and 15th centuries when it was overbuilt and enlarged by a succession of Mon Kings and a queen who were rulers of Lower Myanmar in some periods of our ancient history. Of course various Myanmar Kings also made major improvements upon it and around it, installing new "htees" or umbrellas and great bells, gilding it and building rest-houses and "tazaungs " or prayer halls .

Today, the pagoda has a height of 326 feet and a circumference of 1420 feet at the base. At first the pagoda was only gilded from top to bottom. But the upper part of the pagoda-- from the "banana bud" at first and later, from the "baung yit" upwards -has been covered with plates of gold each measuring one square foot and weighing five-later six-ticals since 1900.As to the umbrella, it is covered with gold and encrusted with numerous gems so that its value will be very hard to calculate indeed. You are probably aware that the Myanmars are very generous and charitable by nature.

Hence, they offer only the very best to the pagodas especially the great Shwedagon -- which are symbols of the Lord Buddha. The result is that the Shwedagon has become a repository of the best in Myanmar culture - architecture, sculpture, arts, crafts and all. In other words, it is a unique museum of Myanmar arts and crafts. That's why the Shwedagon complex has

become our chief tourist attraction. From the covered stairways to the numerous structures and the pagoda itself, everything about the Shwedagon is permeated with beauty and art born of loving veneration. The Shwedagon is the holiest place of worship to Buddhists all over the world and practically the whole complex is a work of art.

Most of the buildings around the pagoda are decorated with the best specimens of Myanmar painting and sculpture so that a few hours' study of the pagoda and its environs can give you a fairly good idea of Myanmar arts and crafts. Various parts of the pagoda are known by different names describing their shapes. The highest part of the pagoda is the "seinbu" or diamond bud which is a spherical globe of gold 10 inches in diameter and inlaid with 4,350 diamonds and 93 other precious stones. Just below the seinbu is the "hngetmanar" ( meaning where birds do not perch) or vane which is a flag-shaped metal frame.)

Some people also call it "hngetmyatnar" meaning a perch for the holy bird.

Next come the htee and the "hngetpyawbu",the banana bud. Below the banana bud come the "kyalan" (the up-turned lotus), the "thabeik" (the alms - receiving bowl), the "kya-hmauk" (the downturned lotus), the "baungyit" (the turbanwrapper), the "panswe" (the hanging flower) and the "khaung laung" (the. bell) in that order. The lower part of the pagoda comprises three pyitsayas or platforms namely the first, the second and the third pyitsayas.

At the bottom lies the main platform measuring 900 feet from north tc south and 700 feet from east to west. The pagoda is known to have suffered from no less than eight earthquakes since 1564 A.D. and a big fire in 1931.i. One intriguing event in the recent history of the pagoda was the "visit" of a tigress that was found crouching at the lower edge of the bell shaped part in 1904. i. At last, it was shot dead by British soldiers.'. Another interesting development was the long fight waged by Myanmar Buddhists against Europeans wearing shoes at the pagoda. ,.The fight was. won by the Buddhists in the end and no one has been allowed to wear shoes,. socks and the like at the pagoda ever since. The Shwedagon Pagoda is of the utmost interest to Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.

To foreign visitors, the pagoda represents the best in Myanmar culture - her piety, arts and crafts and so on. The pagoda and its environs constitute a veritable museum of everything Myanmar. In other words, they present Myanmar Naing-ngan -- the

land of Myanmar-in a nutshell. Hence, if a person wants to be acquainted with Myanmar and he or she has only two-three hours to spare, then I would urge that person to visit the Shwedagon Pagoda.

That's talking in general and now I'd like to go into some specific points of interest. First of all, I should like to mention what is known as "the sacred-hair well." Here's something out of the ordinary - "the sacred-hair well" It lies in a building just about two dozen steps away to the north of the northern prayer hall which-is attached .- to the pagoda. The entrance to it has been closed to prevent the adventurous and the curious from going down at the risk of their lives. As you can see, the entrance to it has been barred so that inquisitive people might not go down risking their limbs and lives. According to an oft-told tale, a Buddhist novice went down the well a few decades ago and never came back.

Maybe that's the reason why the entrance to the well has been closed. This pit or well is widely believed to lead to the hall right at the bottom of the £eat pagoda where the sacred hairs and other relics of four Buddhas are enshrined. A translation of an intriguing "eye-witness account" of a European -- an Italian if remember right -- who supposedly went down the well "long ago" was carried by the local papers about thirty years ago. . He claimed to have reached the relic - chamber.

According to his account, the sacred relics were placed -- presumably in a reliquary -- on a raft, implying that there was/is water at the bottom of the pagoda. That statement is highly plausible as the common experience is that water comes out wherever you dig the ground a few feet in Yangon. A legend says that the relic chamber was/is guarded by "sword and spear machines" or automatons armed with swords and spears to fend off would-be robbers and plunderers.

You probably know that most relic-chambers inside Myanmar pagodas are virtual treasure houses filled with offerings of jewellery worth zillions. It will be a fantastic journey indeed if we can go down the well today with lights and other necessary equipment. As befitting the hollest Buddhist shrine in Myanmar -and debatably-in the whole world - the Shwedagon Pagoda abounds in secrets or points of interest and mistery, To mention one, there is the Bo Bo Aung (donated) Image Lying in a small shrine adjacent to the Eastern Shrine or prayer hall. The image is said to have been donated by Bo Bo Aung, the most well-known Weikzar in Myanmar folklore.

According to our tradition, a Weikzar is a human being who has achieved supernatural powers by pursuing alchemy successfully or by other means. Incidentally, the Shwedagon Pagoda is generally believed to be a favourite haunt of Weikzars, hermits endowed with magical powers and similar beings who have come to do obeisance to it in order to' gain eternal merit for their well-being in fu- ture lives. Hence, you might run into one if you are destined to do so and that being might grant you a boon or two, so watch out! Of course that mystic will not be obviously dressed: he or she is more likely to be in disguise to test your charitableness or generosity. So, the mendicant you gave one kyat to might turn out to be a Weikzar after all and bring you lots of blessings. Three images of the Buddha at the Shwedagon Pagoda are generally believed to be especially endowed with powers for answering prayers. '. One of them is the One entrance-cave Image which is situated right at the middle point of the eastern upper platform of the pagoda. It is said that in the days of Myanmar Kings, princes were prohibited from visiting this image for fear that its prayer-answering powers might be utilized in conspiring against the king. One snag is that it is impossible for ladies to visit this image as it lies on the upper platform which is off limits out of bounds to them. But, never mind.Youladies can always pray to your heart's content if you wish, at the other two especially wish-fulfilling pagodas or images. One is the big image-sitting in the eastern prayer hall.. Its unusual and wish-fulfilling feature is the mudra or position of its right hand: its palm is turned upward or outwards, indicating that it is about to give away boons or disperse blessings.

Perhaps you are aware that most other images of the Buddha have their right palms turned downwards. The other is popularly known as the Shinsawpu Pagoda. . It was probably built by Shinsawpu, the only Queen in the recorded history of Myanmar, who made great changes or rather improvements in the shape and size of the Shwedagon Pagoda. Lying near the iron shrine in the Rahu (north-west) Corner, the pagoda is also called 'The Four Bars Pagoda. The implication is that four monks whose titles (names) began with Bar such as Bartamort and Barmeh and who were famous for their occult powers played a major role in. the creation of the pagoda or rather the image. Four ZAGAR trees growing nearby may be part of the magical scheme. One well-known habitat of zagar trees is Mt.Popa in Central Myanmar which may be compared with Mt.Olympus in Greece in that it is believed to be a favourite abode of Nats or spirits in Myanmar. Some spirit worshippers in Myanmar pay respects to the memory of Pabai Maung Tintdai (Mr. Handsome, the blacksmith). He was said to be burnt to 'death at the foot of a zagar tree in the Tagaung Era. He is believed by some to have become the guardian spirit of the interior-of- the house. He is also known as Interior-of-the House Lord-of-the--Great-Mountain, that is Mt.Popa. I'm telling you all this to let you know that zagar trees or flowers always have a special association with the spirt-worship in our country.. Besides the three prayer-answering pagodas or images .I've mentioned, there are many other pagodas of special interest to those in the know, at the Shwedagon.. One of them is the image believed to have been cast by the famed Monk GoatBull of the Bagan Era. Monk Goat-Bull was an alchemist who presented his philosopher's stone to the - king saying in writing that it needed to be treated with excrement before it achieved its supernatural powers.

Unfortunately the king's reader dared not read out the offensive word--excrement intheroyalpresence and sub situated it with 'something sour' which is a similar word in Myanmar language. The king passed an order that it be done and the order was carried out. Needless to say nothing happened and the stone remained a lifeless, powerless stone since its last alchemic requirement wasn't fulfilled. Considering that the monk had improperly pulled his royal- leg, the king had the monk's eyes-pulled out and returned- the stone to him. The monk. was so angry at his stone that he had it thrown into the latrine at the monastery. And lo and behold! The stone underwent magical transformation and became a full-fledged philosopher's stone, sending out flashes of light at the same time, since the last condition in the alchemic.-process had been met. Realizing that his stone had a5bieved-success, the monk had it retrieved and sent his novices to the market to bring back whatever eyes of carcasses they could find to restore his eyesight by means of his philosopher's stone.

However, the novices managed to bring back only an eye of a goat and an eye of a bull as it was late in the morning and the market was about to break up. Not making a fuss of it the monk put the eyes into his empty eye-sockets and touched them with his philosopher's stone. Instantly, the eyes became his and he could see again. Henceforward, he came to be known as Monk Goat-Bull. Being a monk, he had plenty of fortitude and magnanimity and he forgave the king. Not only that he also showered gold and silver all over the land of Bagan. He brought so much wealth to Bagan that even widows were said to be able to build pagodas. You now know at least one version of why there are so many pagodas in and around Bagan.Since this image has one eye larger than the other just like Monk Goat Bull's, you can easily imagine who the builder of this pagoda might have been. It can be seen in the northwest corner of the prayer hall Lying to the south of the Naungdawgyi (Older Brother) Pagoda. The Shwedagon Pagoda and its environs abound in so many mysterious and intriguing objects of worship and works of art that it will take one weeks if not months to visit and study all of them in some detail. Let me draw your attention to some more of them in addition to the ones I have already described. There are two more pagodas associated with Weikzars and Zawgyis just like the Bo Bo Aung and Shin Saw Pu pagodas. They are the Weikzar Zawgyi Pagoda and the Shin Mahtee Pagoda. The former is situated at the Saturday (South-western) corner of the (Shwedagon) Pagoda and the latter can be found inside the Shin Mahtee prayer hall Lying to the north of the Naungdawgyi (Older Brother) Pagoda. A Zawgyi is somewhat similar to a weikzar in that both of them are human beings who have risen td supernatural status through occult means. I'm sorry I can't tell you the exact difference between the two as I'm no expert in such matters. Some surmise that the name Zawgyi is derived from the Indian (Sanskrit ? Pali ? ) word Yogi denoting a person who practice yoga-various systems of bodily and mental control--to attain physical and mental well. On the other hand, weikzar is a Pali word meaning enlightenment. So a weikzar is someone who has attained enlightenment and the resulting special powers. However both a weikzar and a zawgyi are said to be not above enjoying sex now and then . It is said that there is a forest in the Himalayas where trees bear fruits which are exact replicas of the human body, both male and female. When weikzars and zawgyis who spend most of their time at the Himalayas feel like having a little fun, they touch, the female-shaped fruits known as 'illusory females' with their magic wands bringing the fruits to life for a short duration.

You can imagine the rest to be sure. You can see figures of zawgyis at the weikzarzawgyi pagoda. If you want to see an 'illusory female' however, you will have to go to the old brick entrance hall behind the figures of ogres near the southern entrance to the pagoda. There you can see her in her birthday suit, gamboling with her zawgyi friends. The Shin Mahtee Pagoda or Image is believed to have been made about a thousand years ago by Shin Mahtee, a monk who was reputed to be a weikzar. There are quite a number of people who believe that special blessings or favours will be granted to them if they worship at the pagodas or images built or dona4cd by weikzars and zawgyis. A few of them may even be aspiring to be weizars or zawgyis themselves. Another image of the Buddha associated with the occult world is the Padarshin (living Mercury Ballsome thing Similar to a philosopher's stone) Image. The forehead of that image is slightly protruding in the middle suggesting that a padarshin ball has been enshrined there. The implication is that since the image has an all-power- ful padarshin ball enshrined in its forehead, whatever you pray for at this image is likely to be granted. One striking feature of this image is the fact that it is very proportionally made. In fact, it is one of the handsomest brass images of the Buddha to be seen at the -Shwedagon Pagoda.

Another image of special note is the Myetshin (Living Eye) image well-known for its remarkably clear eyes. It is a brick image sitting cross-legged inside a shrine to be found in the Sunday (Southeastern) Corner of the Shwedagon Pagoda. Some people practice meditation at its foot in the belief that their vows will be fulfilled more easily owing to its special powers. By now, it should be obvious you that the Shwedagon and its environs abound in things of cultural interest. . Look anywhere at the pagoda and you are likely to find something that will intrigue you either by its appearance or its background or the myth behind it. For instance, there's the figure of king Okkalapa, the . builder of the original Shwedagon Pagoda which has been overbuilt again and again until it has attained the present shape and grandeur.[. You can see it at the Rahu (west-northwest) corner, hanging just below the first Pyitsaya (Platform). The figures of Sakka and MaiLamu (Miss Mangrove), the legendary parents of King Okklapa, can be seen at about the same height in the Saturday corner. Incidentally, it might be a good idea to bring binoculars to the pagoda so that you could see these figures and other interesting sights especially the jewels in the 'umbrella' of the pagoda, in close up. And you might be interested to know that: Sakka was the king of Devas or gods and MaiLamu was a fruitmaiden born of a man grove tree. To be more specific, there are six realms of gods altogether existing one on top of another according to traditional Buddhist cosmology and Sakka was only the ruler of the two lowest realms. MaiLamu grew up into a fine young woman with whom Sakka fell in love and King Okkalapa was the offspring of their union. D. Oh, would you like to visit the birth place of MaiLamu? You can do so easily. It is none other than the site of the Mai Lamu Pagoda, less than two miles to the north of the World-Peace Pagoda. There you can still see many mangrove trees growing near the pagoda which is worth a visit per se as it is noteworthy for its unusual tableaux in concrete depicting some incidents from the life of the Buddha or some of His disciples. If you want to sample some avant-garde Myanmar Buddhist sculpture, that's the place you ought to visit. Now let me tell you about some more notable features of the Shwedagon on.. There's a figure of a ' Brahma-a superior kind of god embracing a baby, to the east of the southern entrance prayer hall. Some people believe that prayers to the figure for the gift of a child are answered as a merit is also said that infants possessed by evil spirits can also be made well by praying to the figure. If you are interested in ogres, you can see two behind the two large figures of lions sitting on either side of the southern entrance and two more beside the wall near the top of the northern stairway. The former were donated by King Tharrawaddy when he visited the pagoda in 1841 and the latter were the gifts of Queen Shin Saw pu. Of special interest to scholars are the (stone) inscriptions of King Dhammaceti set up in 1485. There are three of them telling the story of the foundation of the pagoda in Mon Pali and Myanmar languages. They can be found in the north eastern corner of the main platform. Buddhists revere the Buddha so much that they even pay homage to His footprints- genuine or symbolic. There are three symbolic footprints of the Buddha at the Shwedagon, one in a shrine near the northern prayer hall and two in a shrine in the Tuesday Corner. Two big bells of special interest can also be seen at the Shwedagon.

One cast in 1778 and donated by King Singumin weighs about 24 tons. It was taken away as a trophy by the British during the First Anglo Myanmar War (1824-26), but sank in the Hlaing River. It was salvaged and replaced in the Rahu Corner of the pagoda in 1926, after a lot of Buddhists. The largest bell at the pagoda is the one donated by King Tharrawaddy in 1841. It weighs about 42 tons and can be seen in the Sunday Corner.

This bell has a very pleasant sound which is said to have three tones at least; its name in Pali is Maha Tisadda Ghanta meaning the great three toned bell.

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