BURMA: Shwedagon
A waking, winking wonder` is Rudyard Kipling`s
description of the glowing gold Shwedagon Pagoda standing on Singaturra hill
overlooking the city of Rangoon. Burmese legend says the temple enshrines
eight hairs of the Buddha and that on being taken out of their casket more
than 2500 years ago, ….the Heavens moved….the Blind could behold
objects...the Deaf could hear... Lightning flashed… Winds blew…and gems
rained down until knee-deep. The Shwedagon is the most lavish place of
Buddhist worship in the world. The stem of the pagoda is plated with some
20,000 solid gold bars; the hti canopy on top is set with 5448 diamonds and
2317 rubies while the tip is crowned with a single 76 carat diamond. Huge
stone chinthes mythical lions guard four street level entrances to the
pagoda. Inside long stairways lead up to the platform where barefoot
Buddhists circumambulate 64 smaller pagodas clustered around the base of the
stupa. It is a place of beauty and serenity with monks kneeling in prayer
and people burning incense and offering flowers to small statues of the
Buddha. One of the world`s biggest bells, the 45 tonne Maha Tissada Gandha
Bell donated by King Tharrawaddy in 1841 hangs in a pavilion on the
north-east terrace. It is struck on the occasion of Wesak, when thousands of
pilgrims pack the Shwedagon to celebrate Buddha`s birthday.