Shwedagon Pagoda
| Shwedagon Pagoda | |
|---|---|
| ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော် | |
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 Shown within Myanmar
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| Basic information | |
| Geographic coordinates | 16°47′54″N 96°08′59″E / 16.798354°N 96.149705°ECoordinates: 16°47′54″N 96°08′59″E / 16.798354°N 96.149705°E |
| Affiliation | Buddhism |
| Sect | Theravada Buddhism |
| Festival | Shwedagon Pagoda Festival (Tabaung) |
| Municipality | Yangon |
| Region | Yangon Region |
| Country | Myanmar |
| Status | active |
| Heritage designation | |
| Governing body | The Board of Trustees of Shwedagon Pagoda |
| Website | www |
| Completed | c. 6th century |
| Specifications | |
| Height (max) | 105 m (344 ft) |
| Spire height | 112.17 m (368 ft) |
The Shwedagon Pagoda (Burmese: ရွှေတိဂုံဘုရား, IPA: [ʃwèdəɡòʊɴ pʰəjá]), officially named Shwedagon Zedi Daw (Burmese: ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, [ʃwèdəɡòʊɴ zèdìdɔ̀]) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda, is a gilded stupa located in Yangon, Myanmar. The 99-metre-tall (325 ft) pagoda is situated on Singuttara Hill, to the west of Kandawgyi Lake, and dominates the Yangon skyline.
Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar, as it is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present kalpa. These relics include the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Koṇāgamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa, and eight strands of hair from the head of Gautama.
Historians and archaeologists maintain that the pagoda was built by the Mon people between the 6th and 10th centuries CE. However, according to legend, the Shwedagon Pagoda was constructed more than 2,600 years ago, which would make it the oldest Buddhist stupa in the world. According to tradition, Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan — met the Lord Gautama Buddha during his lifetime and received eight of the Buddha's hairs. The brothers traveled to Burma and, with the help of the local ruler, King Okkalapa, found Singuttara Hill, where relics of other Buddhas preceding Gautama Buddha had been enshrined. When the king opened the golden casket in which the brothers had carried the hairs, incredible things happened:
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Wikipedia