Many pilgrims and local people visit the Pagoda to pay respects to their ‘planetary post’. In Burmese astrology the week has eight days - Wednesday being split into morning and afternoon – with each day being represented by a planet and an animal. The planet of a person’s birthday will be the main determinant of their fate but at various stages in their lives the other planets cast upon them ‘painful or beneficial’ influences. The ‘thin-bon-gyi’ (Known as the ‘Great Basket of Learning’ but actually the Burmese alphabet that contains 33 characters) is divided into the eight days of the week and it is traditional to include the letters corresponding to their birthday into their name. So Burmese people do not have surnames or other ‘given’ names.
Around the base of the stupa are 8 planetary posts (See photo) and it is customary for those born on that particular day to make offering of flowers, light a candle and pour water over the statue ‘to wash away their sins’. Again with the photo I have had to cheat a bit and show a planetary point from the Shwemawdaw Pagoda in Bago. Unfortunately nether can I tell you which of the planetary points the one shone is since I haven't yet mastered the Burmese alphabet and unlike Yangon there was no English translation here!!
The final photo is of a reclining Buddha, a small one compared with the one I saw in Bago!
So I come to the end of a dazzling experience in the Pagoda and leave rather awe inspired by its shear scope, its towering stupa and magnificent treasures.
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