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.