Shwedagon Pagoda
You’re not alone in wishing to make a visit to the great Shwedagon Pagoda; it’s a sacred place where all Burmese Buddhists want to visit at least once in their lifetime. Its golden dome visible from almost everywhere in the city of Yangon, like a beacon of light beaconing quietly and majestically.
Facts on the Shwedagon Pagoda also known in English as the Great Dagon Pagoda:
It’s a staggering 325ft high (99 meters) in height. The structure base is built from brick that has been carefully covered in gold plate. The crown of the Pagoda is tipped with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies, with the very top being a diamond bud tipped with a 76 carat diamond. What Mecca is to the Muslims of the world, Shwedagon Pagoda is to the Burmese Buddhists who constitute 89 percent of the population of Burma.
The gleaming golden structure does not resemble any western idea of architecture and instead looks like something out of this world. Traditionally it is believed to be 2600 years old, but archaeologists have determined that it was built between the 6th and 10thcenturies.
It was at this site that Aung San Suu Kyi began her political career as an opposition leader by giving her speech to half a million people in 1988.
There is no other pagoda like it in Burma and there is no other place like the Shwedagon Pagoda in the world. The beauty if the architecture and design will take your breath away, as will the sparkling, light catching jewels. This wondrous holy place, filled with history and legend, is not to be missed on your journey. If there was ever a place nominated for the eighth wonder of the world then this would win hands down, only in our view it’s in the top 3 places in the world to visit.
<< return to Yangon main page
Kyaikto Golden Rock | Inya Day Spa | Nga Htat Gyi Pagoda | Chaukhtatgyi Buddha | Shwedagon Pagoda