Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights & Activities
Pathein's central sights can be covered on foot, but to get to Tagaung Mingala Zeditaw,
Mahabodhi Mingala Zedi amd Leikyunyinaung Paya it's best to hire a trishaw driver or
motorbike taxi (around K2000 to K3000).
Shwemokhtaw Paya BUDDHIST STUPA
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(Shwezedi Rd;
6am-8pm)
Looming with grace over Pathein is the golden bell of
the Shwemokhtaw Paya.
The hti consists of a topmost layer made from 14lb of solid gold, a middle tier of pure
silver and a bottom tier of bronze; all three tiers are gilded and reportedly embedded with
a total of 829 diamond fragments, 843 rubies and 1588 semiprecious stones.
This large complex is unusually well layered in legend. One states that it was origin-
ally built by India's Buddhist King Ashoka in 305 BC. Standing just 7.5ft tall, this ori-
ginal stupa supposedly enshrined Buddha relics and a 6-inch gold bar.
Another legend says a Muslim princess named Onmadandi requested each of her three
Buddhist lovers build a stupa in her honour. One of the lovers erected Shwemokhtaw, the
others the less distinguished Tazaung and Thayaunggyaung Paya.
Whichever story you choose to believe, Bagan's King Alaungsithu is thought to have
erected a 46ft stupa called Htupayon over this site in AD 1115. Then, in 1263, King
Samodagossa took power, raised the stupa to 132ft and changed the name to Shwe-
mokhtaw Paya, which means Stupa of the Half-Foot Gold Bar.
The southern shrine of the compound houses the Thiho-shin Phondaw-pyi sitting
buddha image, which, the story goes, floated to the delta coast on a raft sent from Sri
Lanka during ancient times. According to the legend, an unknown Sinhalese sculptor
fashioned four different buddha images using pieces from the original Bodhi tree mixed
with cement composite. He then placed the images on four wooden rafts and set the rafts
adrift on the ocean. One landed in Dawei (Tavoy), another at Kyaikkami (Amherst), an-
other at Kyaiktiyo (this one is now at Kyaikpawlaw); and the fourth landed near
Phondawpyi, a fishing village about 60 miles south of Pathein, from where it was trans-
ferred to Pathein.
A marble standing buddha positioned in a niche in the fence running along the western
side of the stupa marks a spot where Mon warriors once prayed before going off to battle.
In the northwestern corner of the compound is a shrine dedicated to Shin Upagot, the
 
 
 
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search