Shwedagon

I was never a big fan of historical buildings, monuments or infrastructures, but I have to admit that, if I had been wearing socks during my visit to Shwedagon Pagoda, they would have been knocked off. Shwedagon is one of the most dazzling and opulent places I've seen. It's a mega visual feast, but best of all, it's not just another tourist trap but a shrine where ordinary people actually go to worship. We spent about two hours visiting the vast array of pagodas, and watching monks and locals pray. Our visit was serene, calming and even surreal.

We entered the Pagoda site via the southern entrance, which is the most impressive with two 18-foot-high Chinthe (mythical lion-dragons) guarding the entrance. At first the lady at the reception would not let me in due to my wearing long shorts. I wasn’t going to argue with her which just goes to show how rather aloof I was in regards to visiting ‘one more temple’. But then, for some reason, she came around and told us we could go in, as long as we left our sandals at the reception. Must have been the sight of those voted-the-best-looking-man-legs – circa-summer-1978…but let’s keep that for another entry, shall we? 

Barefeet, we began climbing the steps which were lined with shops selling flowers (both real and paper) for offerings, as well as Buddha images, incense, antiques, book stalls, tea shops, and miscellaneous religious souvenirs and not so religious trinkets. Madeleine bought a bell, don’t ask me why, but she bought a bell. Despite the vendors, the walkway was cool and quiet, which only increased the impact of the brightness and overwhelming colour that waited for us at the top. 

         

As we stepped onto the platform at the top, we immediately sensed the pious feel and calmness of Buddhist ethos. The platform is full of glittering, colourful stupas, but the huge main stupa is the centre of attention for most pilgrims and visitors.  A mat pathway has been laid around it to protect visitors' bare feet from burning on the hot marble platform, or in our case, slipping on the wet marble.  The stupa is completely solid, every inch is covered in gold, and the upper parts are studded with diamonds totalling over 2,000 carats. The 110 meters Shwedagon Pagoda is dazzled with 4,531 different diamonds, with the largest one being a prodigious 72 carat diamond! Other than the central pagoda, the site consists of nearly a hundred rich-coloured stupas, statues and temples that kept us oohing and ahhing for at least an hour. The main pagoda is said to contain eight hairs of the Gautama Buddha, a fact that only adds to its prestige. I would assume those six hairs are to Buddhists what the shroud of Turin is to Christians. Unlike most stupas, the main stupa of the Botataung is open to the public that can view the hair relic exhibited in an ivory shrine. We took a pass on the hair exhibit.

This was a great treat for my senses and a delight on many levels. We were there in the morning and saw families come and go, processions, sweeping, and just the ebb and flow of people coming and going. At one point, these two ladies approached Madeleine and took her hand for no apparent reason. They just smiled at her as if they were in awe. Madeleine smiled back and asked them if they would mind if the tall barefoot silver fox with the long shorts could take their picture. They gladly obliged. We still don’t know what that was about. 

The fact that Swedagon is less of a tourist destination and more of a place of worship, contemplation and prayer is what appealed to me the most. Despite being tourists in a touristic place, we got a great sense of the people, of the essence of their spiritualism and how they practice Buddhism. But then, as I have experienced after visiting other grandiose holy sites such as the Vatican, I am left to grapple with the dichotomy of blatant richness in a country where most people are so obviously poor; gold and ostentatiousness versus spirituality and holiness.  Such a display of wealth in a religious monument is deeply disheartening considering the widespread poverty in this country. But then that's just me. I was still amazed at the grandeur of this place.