Tuesday 26 March 2013

Sule Pagoda, Yangon



Video of Sule Pagoda, courtyard, Yangon

Video of a bus stop in front of the Sule Pagoda, Yangon

 Sule Pagoda in British colonial times, Yangon

Sule Pagoda from Maha Bandulu Street, Yangon

In contemplation, Sule Pagoda, Yangon

Worshippers, Sule Pagoda, Yangon

Stall keeper, Sule Pagoda, Yangon

Worshippers, Sule Pagoda, Yangon

Central Spire, Sule Pagoda, Yangon

Sule Pagoda, Yangon

Worshippers buy and free captured birds, to gain merit 
and improve their karma, Sule Pagoda, Yangon

IN THE CENTRE of Yangon was the Sule Pagoda. It's golden, stupa shaped form, gleamed in the sunlight. According to legend this site of worship was actually 2,500 year old. Today, we can thank the Bengal Engineers of British colonial fame (or curse them), for placing this in a traffic roundabout, and in what would later become the heart of Yangon. 

 The pagoda played a key role in modern times too. It was a meeting point, due to it's long history and central location, for protests against the military junta. In the aftermath of the 1988 Uprising, 3,000 died. During the 2007 Safron Revolution, the Myanmar Government responded once again, with brutality.

Before entering the pagoda, one had to enter the traffic circle, dodging taxis and buses in the process. At street level were multiple entrances to the octagonal based structure. Shoes were removed, before one ascended the stairs, entering a tiled courtyard that encircled the stupa like spire itself. In a sense one had arrived. There was much colour and commotion, and worshippers moved about their devotional duties, from shrine to shrine. Incense was lit, prayers said, visitors lingered alone or in groups and attended ceremonies. There was even a large classroom, for adults, where a class was in session. Within the confines of this Buddhist temple, there was even a shrine devoted to Nat religion, a Burmese kind of spirit worship.

In these first hours in Myanmar, i was still in a spell. This new setting was completely engrossing and a little bewildering too. Sule Pagoda was a kind of initiation process. 


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4 comments:

  1. mabaydar18 August 2013 at 20:45

    There is no "Dagon" behind "Sule"... it is just "Sule Pagoda" ... thanks for sharing your photos... :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bob Altwein18 August 2013 at 23:41

    Thank you D;
    I have deleted "Dagon" everywhere in this post and appreciate your feedback. Did i meet you by the way in Yangon and was it near by hotel, in a beer bar? Can you remind me please where it was. If you see any other errors i welcome your feedback very much. My email is altwein@shaw.ca if you care to email instead of here.
    Thanks, bob

    ReplyDelete
  3. mabaydar21 August 2013 at 19:34

    I am very glad to read your friendly reply and acceptance for my feedback. We did not meet in Yangon. I am just a reader who is interested to read what visitor write about Myanmar. It is always nice to know about some of my country daily things from the point of visitor which I am too used to it and not even aware of those facts. My house is at 29th Street (lowest block). But I am not Muslim or Indian. I am Burmese.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bob Altwein24 August 2013 at 20:32

    Hi D,
    I stayed on 34th Street, just off Merchant Street (sorry but don't know the Burmese for this) on my last night. Stayed in other parts of Yangon on other nights. I think your home is only a 15 minute walk away from where i was staying.
    bob

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