Considered as the “Crown of Burma”, the Shwedagon Pagoda rules the skyline of Yangon.

It was as if I am in a city of gold. The golden architectural pieces of the Shwedagon Pagoda are definitely mesmerizing. I went to Yangon, Myanmar to attend the wedding of my friend. Although most of the city are underdeveloped, there are so many amazing places to unravel such as the 2,500 years old Shwedagon Pagoda or Shwedagon Zedi Daw in Myanmar language. It is the oldest and one of the most famous pagoda in the world.

The dome and stupa of the Shwedagon Pagoda are gold plated and studded with precious stones.

Dominating the Yangon skyline, the Shwedagon Pagoda is a 325 ft tall gilded stupa located atop the Singuttara Hill west of the Royal Lake. Aside from the main pagoda, there are also hundreds of colorful temples, stupas and statues inside the large compound of the pagoda.

I visited the Shwedagon Pagoda last December of 2014.

And mind you, the pagoda is really golden as its main dome is covered with hundreds of gold plates. The top of the stupa is encrusted with 4531 diamonds including a 72 carat diamond as the largest. It is also studded with rubies, topaz, sapphires and emeralds. It’s amazing how they value their faith by putting all these treasures in the Shwedagon Pagoda.

One of the amazing structures inside the Shwedagon compound.

 

There are many small temples inside the Shwedagon compound.

The Shwedagon Pagoda is considered the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar. It is believed to contain the eights strands of hair from the head of Gautama Buddha. Other holy relics include the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Koṇāgamana and a piece of the robe of Kassapa. When we entered the compound, we needed to remove our shoes and walk around barefooted.

Myanmar devotees in Shwedagon.

During our tour around the pagoda, there were a lot of devotees and monks doing some religious rites like washing the statues, offering flowers, worshipping and meditating. I also saw a group of caucasian tourists filming a documentary about the place.

A monk inside a Shwedagon temple.

Foreign film or TV crew inside Shwedagon.

No wonder the Shwedagon is referred to in Myanmar as “The Crown of Burma”.

Sunset in Shwedagon.