Uppatasanti Pagoda
| Uppatasanti Pagoda ဥပ္ပါတသန္တိစေတီတော် |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
 Shown within Myanmar
|
|
| Basic information | |
| Location | Naypyidaw |
| Geographic coordinates | 19°46′16.14″N 96°10′58.76″E / 19.7711500°N 96.1829889°ECoordinates: 19°46′16.14″N 96°10′58.76″E / 19.7711500°N 96.1829889°E |
| Affiliation | Theravada Buddhism |
| Country | Myanmar |
| Architectural description | |
| Founder | State Peace and Development Council |
| Completed | March 2009 |
Uppatasanti Pagoda (ဥပ္ပါတသန္တိစေတီတော်, pronounced [ʔoʊʔpàta̰ θàɴdḭ zèdìdɔ̀]; officially called ဥပ္ပါတသန္တိစေတီတော်မြတ်ကြီး, also called the "Peace Pagoda") is a prominent landmark in Naypyidaw, the new capital of Burma. The pagoda houses a Buddha tooth relic from China. It is nearly a same-sized replica of Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon and stands 99 metres (325 ft) tall.
Construction of Uppatasanti Pagoda began on 12 November 2006, with the stake-driving ceremony, and completed in March 2009, built under the guidance of Than Shwe, head of Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council. The invitation card for the stake-driving ceremony opened with a phrase "Rajahtani Naypyidaw" (the royal capital where the president resides). The pagoda is 30 cm shorter than the Shwedagon Pagoda.
"Uppatasanti" roughly translates to "protection against calamity". It is the name of a sūtra prepared by a monk in the early 16th century. It is to be recited in time of crisis, especially in the face of foreign invasion.
The massive base of the Pagoda which may be mistaken for a large hill is completely man-made.
The pagoda precinct also comprises:
According to The Irrawaddy, 20 people died during a ferris wheel accident at a festival marking the pagoda's consecration in March 2009. The consecration of the pagoda, which involves the hoisting of the htidaw (sacred umbrella, ထီးတော် [tʰí dɔ̀]) and the seinbudaw (diamond lotus bud, စိန်ဖူးတော် [sèɪɴ bú dɔ̀]), took place on 10 March 2009.
...
Wikipedia