Shwedagon
The Shwedagon , also Shwedagon Paya ( pronunciation : [ ʃwèdəgòun ]; MLC transcription:... HRWe ti gum bhu ra: - ʃwèdəgòun pʰəjá ; official name Shwedagon Zedi Daw - ʃwèdəgòun zèdìdɔ ; Burmese ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော် ; BGN / PCGN : shwedigônzedidaw) is the most important sacred building and the religious center of Myanmar in Rangoon . It is considered a symbol of the whole country and is one of the most famous stupas in the world. Built on the heavily fortified Singuttara hill, adorned with two terraces, the southernmost branch of the Pegu-Joma mountain range, the structure towers over the largest city in the country.
history
According to legend, the Shwedagon Pagoda is more than 2500 years old. Records by Buddhist monks testify that the pagoda was built before the death of the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama in 486 BC. Was built. The legend of the Shwedagon Pagoda begins with the two brothers Taphussa and Bhallika, traders from the state of Ramanya and the first two disciples of Buddha Gautama, who received eight of the hairs on his head from him. The two brothers then moved to Burma, where, with the help of King Okkalapa, they built a ten-meter-high pagoda on Singuttara Mountain, in which the eight hairs were to be walled in a gold box.
Archaeologists believe the stupa was built sometime between the 6th and 10th centuries by the Mon people , but this dating is controversial. Perhaps the stupa fell into disrepair over the next few centuries. The first halfway credible reports about the stupa come from the end of the 14th century, when the Mon-King Binnya U of Pegu (re) built the pagoda in 1372 and enlarged it to a height of 18 meters. Half a century later, King Binyagyan extended the pagoda to a height of 90 meters. His successor, Queen Shinsawbu (r. 1453–1472), gave the pagoda its current appearance. The Shwedagon reached its current height of 98 meters under King Hsinbyushin of Ava in 1774. The Queen herself donated her body weight in gold for the cladding of the pagoda. Over the centuries it has been richly decorated with gold and precious stones and hung with bells everywhere.
Shwedagon Pagoda has been damaged by major earthquakes several times over the centuries . The worst damage was caused by the 1768 earthquake that collapsed the top of the stupa. A new Hti (umbrella of honor at the top) was donated by King Mindon Min in 1871 after the annexation of Central Burma by the British Empire . Another, less severe earthquake in October 1970 severely damaged the Hti .
The Shwedagon is also an important place for the Burmese freedom movement. In 1920 the Shwedagon Pagoda was the focus of the student revolt against the British colonial government. The opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi also gave her first public speech here.
architecture
Four covered entrances (mouk) lead up to the Shwedagon Pagoda via long flights of stairs. The east and south entrances (the main entrance) pass long lines of vendors selling books, lucky charms, Buddha statues and pictures, candles, flowers, incense sticks, gold leaf and other offerings, prayer flags and pennants, and umbrellas. There are now elevators at the southern and northern entrances that lead up to the pagoda. The eastern entrance is the most traditional and leads past ancient monasteries ( kyaung ). The 60,000 square meter platform is made of marble slabs .
At the upper end of the southern staircase are two nine-meter chinthe (mythical guardian figures, half lion, half dragon). The hill on which the Shwedagon Pagoda stands is 58 meters above sea level, and the temple complex covers more than five hectares. Before the British conquered Burma, there were fortification walls around the pagoda, which the British removed and armed with cannons - the gun positions (without cannons) can still be seen today.
The main stupa rises 6.4 meters on a square platform and is surrounded by 60 smaller stupas and four larger ones on the transverse sides directly opposite the entrances that mark the four cardinal points. From this level the chedi rises first 30 meters in three square, then octagonal terraces that merge into five round terraces (a traditional Burmese building element that allows the transition from a square to a round shape). The upper part of the chedi rises above it in the shape of a bell. It is decorated with 16 flowers and transitions into an inverted bowl (another traditional Burmese element). This is followed by the lotus blossom , consisting of a row of downward pointing and above a row of upward pointing lotus flowers . The banana blossom on top of it is the uppermost part of the chedi on which the top, the hti , is mounted. The lotus and banana blossoms are covered with 13,153 gold plates, while the rest of the chedi is covered with gold leaf. The weight of the gold plates is estimated at 60 tons, with a 76- carat diamond at the top .
Her ten-meter-high and seven-story Hti is made of iron and decorated with seven gold-plated rings. He weighs over a ton. This is followed by a weather vane that moves in the wind and is decorated with thousands of diamonds , rubies and sapphires (including 1,100 diamonds weighing 278 carats). At the top of the Hti are 4,351 diamonds weighing 1,800 carats, and at the top is a 76-carat diamond that glitters in the sunlight.
The central chedi is only part of numerous buildings on Shwedagon Hill. It is surrounded by numerous small and large temples, chedis and stupas and hundreds of standing, sitting and reclining Buddha images.
Opposite the southern entrance is the shrine of Konagamana, the second Buddha. Here are the oldest Buddha statues in the Shwedagon. On either side of the temple there are two Buddha figures, assigned a day of the week, a planet and an animal (every Burmese worships the Buddha, which corresponds to the day of the week on which he was born). These Buddha figures are doused with water by the believers as an offering. At the four corners of the Zentralchedi there are mythical figures made up of a double lion's body with human faces. Next to it is the pavilion of the 28 previous Buddhas with 28 Buddha images. In the southeast corner there are inscriptions in four languages that recall the 1920 student revolt against the British.
On the eastern side is the prayer hall with figures of Mai Lamu and the Nat King, the parents of King Okkalapa , the founder of the Shwedagon. A few steps beyond is the prayer hall with the reclining Buddha. Since the head points north, the figure symbolizes entry into nirvana.
In the direction of the north rise is the pagoda of the eight days of the week, which contains eight Buddha statues and animal sculptures that are assigned to the planets, animals and days of the week. Behind it, in another building, is the bronze Maha Ganda bell. The British wanted to bring this bell to England, but the boat capsized and the bell sank. All rescue attempts failed. It was only when the Burmese had promised that the bell would stay in Burma that they raised the bell with the help of bamboo poles which they pushed under the bell.
Opposite the North Sunrise is the Buddha Gautama Temple and Zazaung with a symbolic footprint of the Buddha provided by Nagaschlange is guarded. Further back is another larger stupa, the Naungdawgyi Pagoda, the golden older one , which was built on the exact spot where the eight hairs of the Buddha were originally worshiped. The Maha Tissada bell hangs nearby, with 40 tons the heaviest bell in the pagoda.
In the southwest corner of the site is the Bodhi tree , sacred to every Buddhist , under which Buddha was enlightened.
In all eight cardinal directions there are shrines that are assigned to the planets, days of the week, zodiac signs and also certain properties.
Lithograph from 1825
daily cleansing by believers
right a replica of the Mahabodhi temple
View of the many individual shrines
literature
- Nina Oshegowa, Sergej Oshegowa: Art in Burma. (Title of the original Russian manuscript: Iskusstvo Birmy ). EASeemann Verlag, Leipzig 1988, ISBN 3-363-00054-5 , pp. 191-197.
Individual evidence
Web links
- U Win Maung: The Ancestral Stupas of Shwedagon. International Buddhist Conference, Brastagi (Indonesia), October 2010
Coordinates: 16 ° 47 '54 " N , 96 ° 8' 58" E