A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - According to an ancient legend the Shwedagon Pagoda is 2,500 years old dating back to the lifetime of the Buddha, making it the oldest historical pagoda in the world.
The Shwedagon Pagoda enshrines strands of Buddha's hair and other holy relics.
Legends say that there's been a stupa on Singuttara Hill for 2,500 years, ever since two merchant brothers, Tapussa and Ballika, met the Buddha.
He gave them eight of his hairs to take back to Myanmar, a land ruled over by King Okkalapa. Okkalapa enshrined the hairs in a temple of gold, together with relics of three former Buddhas, which were then enclosed in a temple of silver, then one of tin, then copper, then lead, then marble, and, finally, one of plain iron-brick.
A grand festivity was held to celebrate this event.
Inside the mysterious Shwedagon Padoga.
Lord Sakka and four spirits descended from the heavens to choose a worthy place to store Buddha's hairs. They helped to discover three forgotten sacred places, and, as a result, it was decided to keep all sacred objects together with proper honors.
The Shwedagon is the only temple in the world that holds four Buddhist relics of such high value. Furthermore, it's one of the few structures created during the life of Buddha.
This glittering Buddhist monument is located in the heart of Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar, (Burma).
The Shwedagon Pagoda consists of hundreds of colorful temples, stupas, and statues that reflect the architectural era spanning almost a 2,500 years.
Stupa is a dome symbolizing Buddha's teachings.
Archaeologists suggest that the original stupa was built by the Mon people some time between the 6th and 10th centuries.
During its history, the Shwedagon Pagoda has been re-built on several occasions.
It is evident that, over the centuries, the Shwedagon Pagoda has survived difficult times. It has withstood earthquakes, invasions, pillaging, foreign occupation, and an internal stairwell fire in 1931 that destroyed many ancient monuments. Each disaster brought damage to the pagoda, but it has always withstood the onslaughts and endured the renovations. The fact that the Shwedagon Pagoda has survived these all this damage and still stood firm adds to its sense of majesty.
The Shwedagon Pagoda, also known in English as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is completely covered with gold. It rises 326 feet (99 m) on a hill 168 feet (51 m) above the city.
Image credit: Air Pano
All sixty-eight surrounding stupas are gilded, while the Shwedagon itself is sheathed with golden plates from top to bottom. 8000 gold plates, 5000 diamonds, 2000 gemstones and semiprecious stones were used to decorate the main pagoda.
There are bells hanging along the perimeter of the temple complex with wooden mallets lying nearby. It is believed that if you make a wish and hit the bell three times it will come true. So here and there you can always hear a bell ringing in the distance.
Image credit: Nino Jim Bacalso
There are 4 entrances leading into the base of this great Shwedagon Pagoda. No one is sure what is inside. According to some legendary tales, there are flying and turning swords that protect the pagoda from intruders. Some say there are even underground tunnels leading to Bagan and Thailand.
Image credit: Air Pano
Image credit: Air Pano
Some of these absolutely stunning images were taken by Air Pano, a non-for-profit project focused on high-resolution spherical panoramas shot from a bird's eye view.
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Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer
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