Visit Shwedagon Pagoda: World’s Most Beautiful Temple

In Myanmar, Places of Worship & Ruins by SheenaLeave a Comment

Visit Shwedagon Pagoda and step into the golden light in Yangon – see why it’s easily one of the most underrated wonders of the world.

Contents

Visit Shwedagon Pagoda: The Legend

According to folklore, Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar was erected during the time of the Buddha, from which ancient and modern Yangon has been developed around.

Archaeologists, on the other hand, believe that it was built by the Mon kingdom between the 6th and 10th centuries.

Nevertheless, Fact or fiction, we here at DIY Travel HQ believe that Shwedagon Pagoda is truly the centerpiece of the city.

Shwedagon Temple

Shwedagon Pagoda is the geographic & spiritual heart of Yangon

Visit Shwedagon Pagoda: Heart of Yangon

Around this geographic and spiritual beating heart, the everyday lives of locals in Yangon carries on in a hectic and dynamic fashion.

Longyi-wearing men and women in local buses and pick-ups make their way across this sizeable town, for business and pleasure, both oblivious and conscious of the towering holy monument that watches over city and citizens.

Pink sunset at Shwedagon Pagoda

There are a lot of worshippers & tourists at Shwedagon at night

As with Niagara Falls, Sydney Opera House, Christ the Redeemer, Table Mountain and Hagia Sofia, Shwedagon Pagoda – Myanmar’s leading landmark – lives up to elevated expectations.

It puts Yangon on the list of the top destinations in Myanmar.

Situated on the top of Singuttara Hill, Shwedagon Pagoda is visible from almost all points in the city, with the main golden dome rising 99m high.

The whole stupa is covered with gold, hundreds upon hundreds, tons on tons, of gold leaf with the upper vane encrusted with thousands of diamonds and gems, topped by a single 76-carat diamond orbed sphere.

Gold stupas in Shwedagon

The night sky is lit with gold-covered stupas

These glittering jewels can most clearly be seen from a few select positions in the complex, known to guides and locals alike.

At night, they shine like the brightest stars in the sky, emerging from its brilliant fusion with the gilded stupa, invisible in the heat of the day.

Bright temple shrines Shwedagon

The temple shrines are brightly lit too

Visit Shwedagon Pagoda: World’s Most Beautiful Temple

Beginning with the first rays of the sun as its sets on a soft yellow cupola, post-twilight is indeed the finest time to witness the wonder and enchantment of Shwedagon.

Sparrows take leave, powder blue skies and wispy white clouds turn into an electric blue galaxy, streaked with pink and orange hues.

The lights come on, the night sky darkens, the dazzling lights brighten.

Shwedagon Pagoda Sunset

The sky turns pink as the sun goes down & the lights of Shwedagon turn

The entrance to Shwedagon is a grand and diverse one – choose from stairs, escalators or elevators.

Flanked by colossal sculptures of mythical Burmese lions, the peddled and pious walkways from the four cardinal directions lead to the vast marble floor of the main terrace.

Burmese Lions at Shwedagon

2 mythical Burmese lions guard one of the entrances to Shwedagon Pagoda

The mighty paya in the centre is imposing but Shwedagon is much more than a one-trick pony – a string of smaller shrines and stupas surround the superstructure, swelling the size of the site, spreading the spotlight, supplementing the spiritual stock, stressing the sublime score of the scene.

Shwedagon is not only a site of worship and prayer, but it’s also a place of art, history and architecture.

Shrine rituals at Shwedagon

Devotees performing Buddhist rituals at a shrine

Moving clockwise around the complex, in accordance with Buddhist tradition, one passes inside, around and through a maze-like assortment of:

  • Buddha statues
  • Bells
  • Planetary posts
  • Museums
  • Wells
  • Pagodas
  • Treasures
  • Hallowed banyan trees
  • Adoration halls
  • Pavilions.
Statues & temples at Shwedagon

There are many other attractions in the complex, including statues & temples

Yet, it remains the most sacred of all Buddhist pagodas for it enshrines the holy relics of four past Buddhas:

  • a piece of robe
  • staff
  • water filter
  • eight strands of hair from the Gautama Buddha himself

We also recommend visiting the Golden Rock which said to be perched on a lock of the Buddha’s hair.

Yangon Shwedagon Pagoda

Shwedagon is beautiful in the day but most stunning at night

Amidst this deep religious ambiance is also an air of normality, reflecting the domestication and familiarity of Shwedagon’s position in the city’s skyline and soul, beyond the temple grounds.

Here, children run and play, adolescents toy and flirt, women gossip and giggle, men stroll and saunter, tourists pose and snap, reflecting the wider world outside.

It is spiritual and secular, formal and informal, ancient and modern, casual and proper, epitomizing the all-encompassing nature of Buddhist practice in Myanmar.

Shwedagon is truly a religious marvel and a golden wonder of the world.

It’s easily #1 on the list of attractions in Yangon and more deservedly, one of Buddhism’s greatest and holiest, most sacred of sites.

Nighttime at Shwedagon Pagoda

Shwedagon welcomes one & all

Know Before You Go

Shwedagon Pagoda Entrance Fee: 8,000 kyat / $8.00 in 2014 for foreigners

Opening Hours: 4:000am to 10:00pm

Dress Code: 

  • Trousers or knee-length shorts or skirt
  • T-shirts with elbow-length sleeves
  • Barefoot

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Shwedagon Pagoda World's Most Beautiful Temple

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*** The Final Word – Visit Shwedagon Pagoda at twilight, it is simply incomparable! *** 

Do you agree with us? Or what do you think is the most beautiful temple in the world?

5 Shovels-2

Super easy DIY travel around city centres

Visited in June 2014

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