The gleaming golden Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar

*WS 99: the gleaming golden Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar*

The Shwedagon Pagoda is the largest and most sacred Buddhist temple in Myanmar, said to contain relics of four previous Buddhas, including 8 strands of hair of the Gautama Buddha. Legend says the pagoda is dated to 2,600 years when 2 Burmese brothers met the living Gautama Buddha in India and were given 8 strands of his hair to bring back to Myanmar to be enshrined. However archaeologists date the pagoda to around the 6th century AD or younger. The main stupa was rebuilt in the 14th century up to about 18 m in height and raised up a few times over the years until it was 99 m by 1769. 

The temple complex sits on a platform almost 50,000 sq m in size. The 99 m high main stupa has a square plinth of 6.4 m high, an octagonal terrace, topped by the dome and spire and an umbrella crown. The crown has over 8,000 pieces of diamonds, rubies and gold bells, with a 76 carat diamond at the bud. There are 68 smaller stupas encircling the base and elsewhere many decorated shrines with multi-tier roofs to house the many images of Buddhas and other spirits. We first visited this pagoda in 1996 and again in 2013. 

A lot of gold is “used” here, estimated to value over several billion US$. The main stupa's plinth is made of bricks covered with gold plates. Other parts are covered with gold leaves. 

The 1st photo shows the main stupa, the next 3 the smaller stupas and shrines. The 5th shows the typical decoration of the small stupas, with guarding spirits and the “chinthe” (mythical lion-dragon). The 6th is the odd structure here, a Mahabodhi Temple based on the design of a certain temple in north India, totally non-Burmese architecture. The 7th shows devotees washing a Buddha image, an internal self-cleansing ritual. The last 3 photos show some of the Buddha images and devotees praying. Do note that the Burmese practices Theravada Buddhism so no image of the Bodhisattva could be found.