Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
period of Myanmar's history (10th to 14th centuries), the story of the stupa emerged
from the mists of legend to become hard fact. Near the top of the eastern stairway is a
brick inscribed with the date 1485.
In the 15th century, the tradition of gilding the stupa began. Queen Shinsawbu, who
was responsible for many improvements to the stupa, provided her own weight (88lb or
nearly 40kg) in gold, which was beaten into gold leaf and used to cover the structure. Her
son-in-law, Dhammazedi, went several better, offering four times his own weight and
that of his wife in gold.
In 1612 Portuguese renegade adventurer Filipe de Brito e Nicote raided the stupa from
his base in Thanlyin and carried away Dhammazedi's 30-ton bell, with the intention of
melting it for cannons. As the British were to do later with another bell, he accidentally
dropped it into the river, where it remains.
During the 17th century, the monument suffered earthquake damage on eight occa-
sions. Worse was to follow in 1768, when a quake brought down the whole top of the
zedi
. King Hsinbyushin had it rebuilt to virtually its present height, and its current con-
figuration dates from that renovation.
British troops occupied the compound for two years immediately after the First Anglo-
Burmese War in 1824. In 1852, during the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the British again
took the paya, the soldiers pillaged it once more and it remained under military control
for 77 years, until 1929. Prior to the British takeover of southern Myanmar there had
been defensive earthworks around the paya, but these were considerably extended by the
British. The emplacements for their cannons can still be seen outside the outer wall.
In 1871 a new
hti
(the umbrella-like decorative top of a stupa), provided by King Min-
don from Mandalay, caused considerable head-scratching for the British, who were not at
all keen for such an association to be made with the still-independent part of Myanmar.
The huge earthquake of 1930, which totally destroyed the Shwemawdaw in Bago,
caused only minor damage to Shwedagon. The following year when the paya suffered
from a serious fire, it wasn't so lucky.
After another minor earthquake in 1970, the
zedi
was clad in bamboo scaffolding,
which extended beyond King Mindon's 100-year-old
hti
, and was refurbished. The stupa
also had to be repaired following 2008's Cyclone Nargis.
During recent centuries, the Shwedagon Paya was the scene for much political activity
during the Myanmar independence movement - Aung San Suu Kyi spoke to massive
crowds here in 1988 and the temple was also at the centre of the monks' protests in 2007.
ยป
Temple Layout
