Even the guidebook that I mentioned in a previous posting admits that the origin of this stupa and pagoda are shrouded in the mists and myths of ancient times. What is clear is that Ashoka, a great Indian emperor and preacher of Theravada Buddhism – a form of Buddhism that is of particular importance in Myanmar – visited the Shwedagon as a pilgrim in 260 BC. Even by then it was reported that the jungle had enveloped the pagoda and Ashoka ordered it to be cleared so it seems likely that the stupa and Pagoda were built over 2,500 years ago.
In summary the story goes that at the end of the previous world five lotus buds appeared on Singuattara Hill – where the Shwedagon stands today. From these buds emerged sacred birds carrying sacred yellow robes symbolising the five Buddhas who would guide the world towards the next Nirvana. Four of the Buddhas have appeared in the present world and the coming of the fifth is expected to mark the ending of the current ‘world-cycle’. Suffice it to say that each of these four Buddhas left a relic to be enshrined in Singuattara Hill: a staff from the first, a water filter from the second, a piece of a robe from the third and eight hairs from the fourth.
Various royal kings and queens of Burma have contributed to the development of the stupa and other Pagoda buildings since the 15th Century. If you haven’t guessed by now from the photos the Shwedagon is a treasure trove. It is a solid building of brick covered in cement. From the base up to the mouldings it is gilded in gold that requires replacing because of damage by the Monsoon every ten years or so with 28,000 packets of gold leaf. I bought 3 packets as a souvenir for a dollar but normally pilgrims buy the packets to donate to the Pagoda for the upkeep of the stupa.
From the top of the mouldings to the top of the ‘banana bud’ the stupa is covered in 13,153 gold plates each a foot square and weighing in total about 60 tons and with a value of $3.2 billion!!
The ‘hti’ or umbrella at the top of the stupa is made of iron, plated with 215 kilograms of pure gold and hung with gold and silver bells and jewellery creating a gentle jingle in the breeze.
The weathervane at the very top is decorated with 1,000 diamonds weighing 278 carats and 1383 other precious and semi-precious stone. All this is topped by a diamond orb, some 10 inches in diameter and studded with 4531 diamonds weighing 1800 carats and is crowned with a 76-carat single diamond.
Unfortunately my night photography doesn’t really do justice to the detail described here but there are some better pictures taken in daylight to follow of the even taller Shwemawdaw Pagoda in Bago to follow.
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