Shwezigon Pagoda contd., Bagan

Writing everything about Shwezigon would have made the post very long, I thought of splitting it in two. In my earlier post, I wrote about the stupa, in this one, I shall write about the surrounding structures.

Apart from the pagoda, there are many shrines, zaundan (prayer houses) which were added over a period of years.

shrines and stupas in the precinct of Shwezigon

prayer hall (maroon and gold) with a Pyatthat roof and another one with a shikhara next to pagoda

Pyatthat roof is a multi-tiered roof in receding order. The tip represents Mount Meru, representing the center of physical and spiritual universe. This somehow reminded me of the temples in Bali.

 The Zaundan or prayer hall

the intricate work at the entrance to Zaundan

exquisite wood carving on the pediment of shrine

original work still remains intact

original teak  roof

standing image of Buddha

A 3.4 meter high gilded bronze image of Buddha stands dating back to 1102 AD. The four shrines (Kyg-gu Taik) are situated in the four corners. They all exhibit the same vitarka mudra or hand gesture of the left hand where the palm faces outward with the tip of thumb touches the tip of index finger. The left hand is in abhaya mudra or no fear.

standing wooden figure

Pagoda with wood carvings:

The archways in this pagoda are decorated with 3-dimensional wood figures. The wood carvings depict a scene from  the life of Buddha, Jataka tales, Burmese folk tales and form an archway between two pillars.

Pagoda

shrine with Buddha image with beautiful archway

the entrance to pavilion depicts Siddhartha's renunciation. I have spliced few scenes and pasted them below.

Buddha in bhumisparsh mudra

 wood carvings

Suvannasama Jataka

Suvannasama Jataka tells the story about Suvaansama, Buddha-to-be who looked after his blind parents with devotion. One day, he was unknowingly shot by an arrow by a king who mistook him for a deer. When the king realised his mistake, he went to the blind parents to ask for forgiveness. The parents asked the king to take him to his son's body so that they could pray for his future rebirth. The parents prayed for their son's merit which he had gained looking after them. Soon after Suvannasama became alive and the parents regained their eyesight.

This is parallel to the story of Shravana Kumar from Ramayana where Shravana Kumar looks after his blind parents. One day, while travelling, Shravana Kumar goes to fetch water for his parents from a nearby river. He gets accidentally killed by King Dashratha, father of Lord Rama, who mistook the sound as that of a deer. The devastated parents curse Dashratha by saying that he too would die in the agony of his son.

The colorful wood carvings are all original and depict folktales, jataka tales telling about the life of Buddha. The above carving scene depicts brother and sister swinging Nats

brother and sister swinging nats on the side

beautiful wood carvings and decorated pillars, top shows Bhikkhuni Patacara

Bhikkhuni Patacara was a notable female disciple of Buddha. On the left top corner, she is seen her with disciples.

a scene from Rama Jataka

Rama Jataka is very similar to Ramayana, the great Hindu epic.

carved pediment

Arika and Pola Janaka fighting

I was told that the scene depicts Arika and Pola Janaka fighting scene, however, I could not find more detailed description about it.

 Nanda's renunciation

Nanda was half-brother of Gautam Buddha who later followed his brother's path.

Image of Shwe Sagar (on pedestal), and Shwe Nyothin

On the western side is a small shrine housing two Nats. These are the father and son Nat who died in a battlefield. Its name translates to "the Son (Shwe Sagar) died a day before the father "( Shwe Nyothin)

All around the base of pagoda are the eight places for worshipping the day of your birth like this one.

This indentation in a stone slab used to be filled with water so that the Kings could look at the reflection of hti without taking their head backwards to look up. This was done so as to avoid their crown from falling down.

I did not understand the purpose, but saw everyone putting in a currency note and letting it float. It should not drown.
Probably, it served the same purpose as above of letting public view hti without tipping their head backwards.

This is a small spire cave-like shrine at the north-west and north-east corner

a small shrine with chinthe on top

flag staff with hintha bird on top

a small white shrine

On the eastern entrance, there is a small room  which houses two stone pillars containing inscriptions in Mon language dedicated by Kyansitha. Surprisingly, the stone does not mention the name of Anawrahta who started the construction of this pagoda.

I took the picture through a small gap as the door to outside was locked.

two men carrying a Burmese gong

The Burmese gongs are made of bronze. Donating a gong is considered meritorious.

A beautiful temple and worth a visit.

Shwezigon Pagoda, Bagan

One of the very important pagoda to visit in Bagan is the Shwezigon. It is not only beautiful but is also one of the oldest. It holds a lot of religious significance as it enshrines a replica of tooth relic of Buddha. It has many temples and shrine in its precinct.

The pagoda stands between the village of Wetkyi-in and Nyaung U.

History of pagoda:

The pagoda was built by King Anawrahta, who founded the Kingdom of Bagan in 1044. He embraced Buddhism and began constructing temples in Bagan.

He had recieved replica of four Buddha relics which he wanted to enshrine in Bagan. The tooth relic which he got from Kandy in Sri Lanka is said to be in this pagoda.

The other three relics, molar, an emerald image of Buddha which he received from China and collar bone were enshrined at Lawkananda, Tan Kyi Taung and Tu Yin Taung.

The construction of pagoda was started by King Anawrahta in 1059 but it was completed by his son, King Kyansittha at the end of 11th century.

The shape of this pagoda later became a model for pagodas around Myanmar.

There are four entrances to the temple which are guarded by huge monolith lion. Now, only the north- east and north-west corner ones are accessible.

entrance with dwarpala on one side

Dwarpala on other side of gate

flagstaff with hintha bird on top

An octagonal platform forms the base of the golden stupa with three receding terraces. The body of bell shaped dome is made of stone bricks which were brought from Tu Yin Taung quarries. A human chain made seven mile long transported bricks hand to hand to the construction site.

The pagoda has a hti, (umbrella) on top of the dome.

It is covered by more than 30,000 copper plates. At the corners of topmost terrace small replica of pagoda are made.

replica of pagoda at corners

The base of the pagoda has fitted golden kalashas or vases with gilded bronze castings of flowers. Huge fitted stone carved alms bowls are set near them.

Each terrace has green glazed plaques of Jataka tales which relate to the life of Buddha. 

vase with golden gilt flowers

golden chinthe stand on four sides of stupa

close-up chinthe

a twin bodied golden chinthe at base of stupa

There are lotus motifs on dome and a small monk is seen where the arrow points. There are kaalmukha(ogres) all around with garland of flowers.

guardians at stair entrance

 stair going up to zedi

There are large alms bowls in one side of pagoda. Devotees put rice inside.

Like other monuments in Bagan, this pagoda too suffered severe damage in the earthquake in 1975.

There are surrounding structures around the pagoda, I shall be writing about them in my next post.