After a sumptuous breakfast we took a short bus trip to the Shwedagon Pagoda, regarded by many as Myanmar’s most sacred Buddhist shrine. Its stupa reaches upwards to 99 m and dominates Yangon’s city centre skyline. Being so revered it is visited by vast numbers of pilgrims and tourists as we were to find.
Legend has it that two merchants from Burma in 588 BC met Gautama Buddha in India and offered him alms. In response, he offered them eight strands of his hair as a blessing and they took it back to Yangon, then called Okkalapa land.
King Okkalapa enshrined Buddha’s hairs together with the relics of three previous Buddhas. These relics were enshrined within a 20 m high ceti which was thus called Shwedagon meaning the ‘Reliquary of the Four’.
Since 588 BC kings and queens over the centuries have progressively enlarged the shrine until finally in 1774 King Sinbyushin had it rebuilt to its present height of 99 m.
Walking around this vast pagoda, one is struck by the incredible number of additional shrines, halls and stupas that have been added and now embellish the complex. Despite earthquake damage and several acts of vandalism by colonial invaders, the pagoda and ancillary structures have been lovingly restored several times and further restoration work is occurring even now. The amount of gold decoration on the pagoda, adjacent stupas and halls makes for a resplendent scene but the glare in the bright sunshine is almost overpowering.
There are numerous points of interest to see around the pagoda but the Maha Tissada Bell is a very prominent one. This huge bell was commissioned by King Tharrawaddy in 1841 and weighs 6 tonne. The ceiling of its pavilion is made of superb lacquerwork that is inlaid with glass mosaic.
We were particularly taken by the photographic museum which displayed photographs showing the pagoda in the 1800s and the same viewpoint now.
At one point on circumnavigating the giant pagoda we passed a star shaped open place where devotees kneel and pray facing the great stupa hoping their wishes will be granted.
We also stopped under a giant banyan tree called the Mahabodhi Tree which is thought to have been grown from a cutting of the original banyan tree under which the merchants first met the Buddha.
We then visited another giant sized reclining Buddha at Kyauk Htat Gyi Pagoda but by this stage we were all feeling a little over exposed when it came to Buddhist iconology. The soles of this Buddha’s feet were inscribed with the 108 symbols of Buddhist thoughts and history. The flashing LEDs that temples have around their plaster models of Buddha certainly does nothing to enhance the sense of religious connection with deity.
We then drove down University Avenue and passed the house in which Aung San Suu Kyi had spent her time under house arrest. The house was originally her father’s home but he, as a political activist was striving for independence from the colonial oppressors and was assassinated in 1947 when she was just three.
Some ‘free’ time was then given over to visiting the Bogyokeaungsan market which specialised in jewellery, gemstones, wooden carvings and woven materials. We were hesitant to buy any stones fearing that the present day market is being flooded with synthetic rubies, sapphires and emeralds.
The last part of the day gave us a chance to see the old colonial part of Yangon. It would be fair to say that this section of the city is in utter disrepair. It would seem that since the British were forced out in 1948 the fine colonial buildings in the most part have been left to fall into decay.
Some of the old bank and commercial buildings are now decrepit and disintegrating through utter neglect. We found this very hard to understand and yet it may be that it’s too expensive for the city to afford the rehabilitation of these fine old Georgian structures.
We crossed over a high walkway and observed the boating traffic at the confluence of the Pazundaung and Hiang rivers and the associated harbour activities around the docks.
We then ventured back to our hotel and said farewell to our guide and bus driver (plus assistant). We finished the evening with our group having drinks and food in one of our rooms on the 17th floor of this classy hotel.
Tomorrow six of us head on to Laos for a continuing South East Asian adventure and four of our team return to Australia.