Shwedagon Pagoda Yangon

Southeast Asia Tour 2015

Yangon | Myanmar

29 Nov 2015 | Sun

Day 11 of 46

Nov 28th | Traveling Sick | Flight from Siem Reap to Don Mueang Bangkok
Amari Don Mueang Airport | One-Night Stay
Flight | Don Mueang Bangkok to Yangon International Airport
House of Memories Restaurant Yangon
Savoy Hotel Yangon
Shwedagon Pagoda Yangon

Shwedagon Pagoda Yangon

The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon is one of the most iconic sites in all of Southeast Asia. Located atop Singuttara Hill, the pagoda stands at 325 feet (ca. 99 m) and is believed to be over 2500 years old. It’s a symbol of Myanmar’s rich Buddhist heritage and is considered to be one of the holiest sites in Buddhism.

The pagoda’s main stupa is covered with 60 tons of gold leaf and encrusted with thousands of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, topaz, jade, and other precious stones. At night, it illuminates with thousands of lights that reflect off its golden surface, making it an awe-inspiring sight.

Visitors come from around the world just to see this incredible structure, which includes religious statues and shrines, as well as a variety of souvenir stalls selling everything from jewelry to traditional puppets.

The Shwedagon Pagoda (Burmese: ရွှေတိဂုံဘုရား; MLCTS: hrwe ti. gum bhu. ra:, IPA: [ʃwèdəɡòʊɰ̃ pʰəjá]); Mon: ကျာ်ဒဂုၚ်; officially named Shwedagon Zedi Daw (Burmese: ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, [ʃwèdəɡòʊɰ̃ zèdìdɔ̀], lit. ’Golden Dagon Pagoda’) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is a gilded stupa located in Yangon, Myanmar.

The Shwedagon is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar, as it is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present kalpa. These relics include the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Koṇāgamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa, and eight strands of hair from the head of Gautama.

Built on the 51-metre (167 ft) high Singuttara Hill, the 112 m (367 ft) tall pagoda stands 170 m (560 ft) above sea level, and dominates the Yangon skyline. Yangon’s zoning regulations, which cap the maximum height of buildings to 127 metres (417 feet) above sea level (75% of the pagoda’s sea level height), ensure the Shwedagon’s prominence in the city’s skyline.

– Wikipedia Shwedagon Pagoda