The center piece of Yangon is the beautiful Shwedagon Pagoda; the religious focal point for Burmese Buddhists.
Around the Shwedagon Pagoda are smaller temples built by a variety of wealthy worshipers hoping to gain the favor of Buddha. The plaza around the pagoda is paved in white and black marble, which has a very practical purpose. Since shoes and socks must be removed before entry, you quickly learn that the white marble (thanks to its ability to reflect the sun) serves as a cool walkway while the black marble seems to dare you to step on it – and punishes the walker with a hot surface that might be compared with a walk on a bed of red hot coals.
No photo can do justice to the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda – you have to be there to take it all in. The following photos were taken of and within Shwedagon Pagoda complex.
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A smaller stupa in the Shwedagon pagoda plaza. There are seven stupas surrounding the Shwedagon Pagoda representing each day of the week. The day you were born (Monday for me) gave worshipers the opportunity to pour water over the head of a Buddha statue, which is reputed to give the worshiper good luck. There is also a devil-like statue that gives you the opportunity to pour water over its head to ward off bad luck.
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Shwedagon seems to be under a constant state of repair and refurbishment. The above photo shows covered scaffolding as portions are being refurbished. In 1997 the entire pagoda was recovered in gold leaf to replace gold that was washed away during the heavy rains of summer.
Buddha statues masked in newspaper are freshly painted gold – proving that all that glitters is not gold.
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Within the cramped corridors of the pagoda, a gold receptacle holds the treasured two hairs of Buddha. This is the religious focal point of the pagoda.
The tip of the Shwedagon Pagoda holds the ultimate gift to Buddha.The tip is incrusted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and gold objects.It is believed that gifts to the Buddha of this nature assure a good life when one is reincarnated in the next life.The Shwedagon plaza is shown below the pagoda tip.One of our guides said that his mother had a ring with a very large diamond.Her son encouraged her to sell the ring and with the proceeds from the sale she could build a school to serve hundreds of children.Instead, she gave it to the Buddha to go atop a pagoda. I found it interesting that most of the Burmese seem to be living this life in preparation for the next life.
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