ေရႊစည္းခုံဘုရား

''Shwe Zee Gone Pagoda"

The golden Shwezigon Paya in Bagan is one of the most significant religious buildings in Myanmar, for it served as a prototype for later stupas built throughout the country and marked an important development in the relationship between traditional Burmese religion and Theravada Buddhism.
advertisement
History of Shwezigon Paya
The Shwezigon Paya was built in the 11th century by King Anawrahta (r. 1044-77), a recent convert to Theravada Buddhism. Anawrahta was Theravada Buddhism's first major advocate in Myanmar and the first of the great builders of Bagan. The king had completed three terraces of the Paya when he was killed by a wild buffalo in 1077.

The king built Shwezigon to be a massive reliquary to enshrine a collection of relics, including the Buddha's frontal and collar bones, a copy of the tooth relic at Kandy, Sri Lanka, and an emerald Buddha image from China. Legend has it that the site of Shwezigon was chosen by a white elephant.
Probably the most significant aspect of Shwezigon's history is that it marked the first royal endorsement of the 37 nat (spirits), a central focus of Burmese religion before the arrival of Buddhism.
King Anawrahta placed 37 figures representig the nat on the lower terraces. Eventually the nats were moved from the terraces to a small hall southeast of the platform called "37 Nats." This can still be visited (when it's unlocked) and is an important shrine for Burmese pilgrims, but the sculptures are unfortunately not the originals. These were swiped by a collector and are rumored to be somewhere in Italy.
The Shwezigon shrine was completed between 1086 and 1090 by King Kyanzittha (r. 1084-1113), Anawrahta’s successor. Kyanzittha was arguably Bagan’s greatest king and certainly one of its greatest builders: it was under him that Bagan became known as the "city of four million pagodas." The Shwezigon Paya has retained to this day the essential shape it assumed on completion in 1090, which became the architectural prototype for many other stupas across Myanmar.
Like all Bagan monuments, this great pagoda has been damaged by earthquakes and other factors over the centuries. It has often been repaired, most notably by King Bayinnaung (r. 1551-1581), and the devastating earthquake of 1975 caused extensive damage that necessitated repairs to the top of the dome and the spire.
One prominent feature that is not original is the more than 30,000 copper plates that cover the pagoda, donated by local, national and international visitors to Shwezigon. And the entire structure was gilded in 1983-84 and more recently. But the lower part of the stupa and terraces remain largely as originally constructed in the 11th century.
What to See at Shwezigon Paya
Shwezigon Paya is enclosed by an outer wall, about 750 feet on each side, which is pierced by four gates. There are many other shrines, stupas and structures within the wall, some of which have been recently added.
Among the most notable of these outer monuments are two inscribed pillars placed by King Kyanzittha, which recount the pagoda’s history in the Mon language — but interestingly do not mention the pagoda's founder, King Anawrahta. The pillars are on the eastern side of the complex.
The Shwezigon Pagoda itself is oriented to the east and is built of solid sandstone blocks. Its graceful golden "bell" reaches a height of 160 feet, supported on a square base 160 feet on a side, an octagonal intermediate base, and three square terraces.
The golden bell is decorated with various designs, encircled by several thick moldings, and is topped with the traditional jeweled hti (umbrella spire) to symbolize sovereignty. It is lit up impressively at night.
Each of the three square terraces is accessible from the cardinal points and contains Jataka tablets depicting the lives of the Buddha. The corner of each terrace has a small stupa that mirrors the main one. In front of each of the stairways leading to the terraces are square satellite temples with central shrines.
Each shrine (Kyg-gu Taik) contains an 11-foot, Gupta-style standing bronze Buddha dating from 1102. The largest original statues in Bagan, these represent the four Buddhas who attained enlightenment in this world (Gautama being the last of the four). All display the same symbolic hand gestures: the vitarka mudra (exposition) with the left and abhaya mudra (no fear) with the right.
Southeast of the platform is the hall of the 37 Nats, with figures of the 37 traditional spirits revered by the Burmese since before Buddhism. The figures are not the originals, but the large stone figure of Thagyamin is. Thagyamin is the king of the nat and an appropriation of the Hindu god Indra.
Festivals and Events
Because of the pagoda's great religious significance for Burmese Buddhism, the Shwezigon Festival in November/December attracts pilgrims from throughout Myanmar
Scholars opine that the name Shwezigon is derived from "Zeyabon", In a poem on "Nine Wonders of Shwezigon" composed by Inwa Mingyi, Shwezigon Pagoda is mentioned as "Zeyakon". In line 16 of the inscription on the bell which King Bayint Naung dedicated to Shwezigon Pagoda it is mentioned as "Zeyabon".
It was King Anawrahta who began building Shwezigon Pagoda. In the sakarit year 452 (ie. AD 1090) his son King Kyanzittha enclosed it with stone bricks hewn at the Tuyin Taung quarries. Some say that King Anawrahta left it unfinished and it was King Kyanzittha who completed it. There are 43 enclosed pagodas in Bagan of which Shwezigon Pagoda is one. A close study of Shwezigon structure will show us that from the base to the upper section of the bellshaped dome where the motifs of down-turned and up turned lotus petals adorn, the whole body is built of stone bricks, it is said that on the site of present Nan Gyi Kon, was set up a royal residence where King Kyanzittha stayed to supervise the transportation of stone bricks by hand from the Tu Yin Taung quarries to the construction site.
Nan Gyi Kon is one of well known historical sites in Bagan on the south of Shwezigon Pagoda.
In architecture Shwezigon is a prototype of Myanmar Zedi. There are several plaques adorning its terraces. They are glazed stone plaques on which scenes from 550 Jatakas (Buddha's birth stories) are depicted. The colour of glaze is mostly green.
The Nine Wonders of Shwezigon Pagoda
1. The Hti (umbrella) on the top has no iron buttresses,
2. The shadows of the enclosure walls do not change position.
3. Papers holding gold foils are dropped from the height of the Pagoda after gilding, but they never land outside the precinct.
4. The precinct can accommodate any number of visitors and pilgrims.
5. There is always an early morning offering of steamed rice to the Pagoda.
6. The sound of the beating of a big drum on one side of the Pagoda cannot be heard on the other side.
7. The Pagoda gives you an illusion of it being on a ridge.
8. Regardless of heavy rainfall, no rain water remains in its compound, and
9. The Khayey trees and Chayar trees in the precinct bloom all the year round.
There are four image houses called "Kyey Gu Taik,"each on one side of the Pagoda. In the eastern house is the statue of Konagamana Buddha, in the western house is the statue of Gotama Buddha, in the northern house is the statue of Kakusanda Buddha, and in the southern house is the statue of Kassapa Buddha. These Buddha statues were cast in alloy and heavily gilt. On either side of the eastern causeway is an inscribed stone slab recording the biography of King Kyanzittha and political,economic and cultureal conditions of the time. The inscription is composed in old Mon language.
Originally there was an inner enclosure wall built of wooden posts and bars. There were four arched entrances in the inner enclosure wall, facing four cardinal directions. Two zedis at each entrance, big iron rings fixed on them and stone bars at the entrances survive till to day. On either side of the inner wall, leaning against the entrance zedis are two Dwarapala figures each on one side, representing the guardian deities. On either side of the arched entrance of the outer enclosure wall are a pair of Dwarapala devas figures and a pair of lion figures each sculpted out of a monolithic. On both sides of the southern arched entrance are found stone figures of ten handed deva, Naya and Lion.
Orginally there were four Panet The Gus, each at one corner of the precinct. Now only two remain, one at the north east corner and the other at the north west corner. Panet The Gus are brick spires
There is a large wooden doorleaf on display in the Pagoda museum. It is one of the original 8 wooden door leaves from the entrances of the inner wooden enclosure wall. Fortunately at least one door leaf survives. It is over nine centuries old. On it are carvings of musicians, dancers, floral designs, and patterns artistically executed. Another art work of Bagan period is a wooden statue of Bodaw Thagya (Sakka deva) at the shrine of 37 Nat spirits in the southeast corner.
On the sides of the eastern entrance are a bronze bell cast and dedicated by U Myat Baw the governor of Bagan and a big bronze bell of about 2000 viss and a smaller bronze bell cast in the sakarit year 919. (i.e A.D. 1557). The incriptions on these bells of 1557 tell us that they were cast and dedicated to Shwezigon Pagoda by King Bayint Nyuang of Hamthawaddy Kingdom and that he gilt Shwezigon Pagoda from the base to the top.