TravelsWithLobo's video: SWEDAGON PAGODA - BY NIGHT - THE CROWN JEWEL OF YANGON

MYANMAR - 10-DAY FIRST TIME EXPLORER - YANGON - DAY 1 - EPISODE 5 Asia 2020 - Travel Bucket List ...TRAVELS WITH LOBO In this episode we end our massive DAY TWO SIGHTSEEING in YANGON with a second visit to the crown jewel of Yangon - SWEDAGON PAGODA. This time by night. It was fabulous during our visit by day on Day 1 of our but even more so at night. Little did I know that this would be the site on the entire ASIA 2020 TRAVEL BUCKET LIST TOUR that would leave the best impression...a memorable impression that has stayed with me to this day. Swedagon is a very spiritual destination so dare to get in the mood and "let your spirituality soar" during this video. The Shwedagon Pagoda, officially named Shwedagon Zedi Daw and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda, is a gilded stupa located in Yangon, Myanmar. The Shwedagon is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar, as it is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present kalpa. These relics include the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Koṇāgamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa, and eight strands of hair from the head of Gautama. Built on the 51-metre (167 ft) high Singuttara Hill, the 112 m (367 ft) tall pagoda stands 170 m (560 ft) above sea level,[note 1] and dominates the Yangon skyline. Yangon's zoning regulations, which cap the maximum height of buildings to 127 metres (417 feet) above sea level (75% of the pagoda's sea level height), ensure the Shwedagon's prominence in the city's skyline. According to tradition, the Shwedagon Pagoda was constructed more than 2,600 years ago, which would make it the oldest Buddhist stupa in the world.[4] The story goes that two merchant brothers Tapussa and Bhallika met the Gautama Buddha during his lifetime and received eight strands of the Buddha's hairs. The brothers presented the eight strands of hair to King Okkalapa of Dagon who enshrined the strands along with some relics of the three preceding Buddhas of the Gautama Buddha in a stupa on the Singuttara Hill in present-day Myanmar.[5] Scene upon the terrace of the Great Dagon Pagoda, 1824-1826 The first mention of the pagoda in the royal chronicles dates only to 1362/63 CE (724 ME) when King Binnya U (r. 1348–1384) raised the pagoda to 18 m (59 ft). Inscriptional evidence, the Shwedagon Pagoda Inscriptions from the reign of King Dhammazedi (r. 1471–1492), shows a list of repairs of the pagoda going back to 1436. In particular, Queen Shin Saw Pu (r. 1454–1471) raised its height to 40 m (130 ft), and gilded the new structure. By the beginning of the 16th century, Shwedagon Pagoda had become the most famous Buddhist pilgrimage site in Burma.[6] Shwedagon Pagoda in the 1890s A series of earthquakes during the following centuries caused damage. The worst damage was caused by a 1768 earthquake that brought down the top of the stupa, but King Hsinbyushin in 1775 raised it to its current height of 99 m (325 ft) (without counting the height of the hti (crown umbrella)). A new hti was donated by King Mindon Min in 1871 after the annexation of Lower Burma by the British. An earthquake of moderate intensity in October 1970 put the shaft of the crown umbrella visibly out of alignment. A scaffold was erected and extensive repairs were made. The Shwedagon Pagoda Festival, which is the largest pagoda festival in the country, begins during the new moon of the month of Tabaung in the traditional Burmese calendar and continues until the full moon.[7] The pagoda is on the Yangon City Heritage List The stupa's plinth is made of bricks covered with gold plates. Above the base are terraces that only monks and other males can access. Next is the bell-shaped part of the stupa. Above that is the turban, then the inverted almsbowl, inverted and upright lotus petals, the banana bud and then the umbrella crown. The crown is tipped with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies. Immediately before the diamond bud is a flag-shaped vane. The very top—the diamond bud—is tipped with a 76 carat (15 g) diamond.[citation needed] The gold seen on the stupa is made of genuine gold plates, covering the brick structure and attached by traditional rivets.[citation needed] People all over the country, as well as monarchs in its history, have donated gold to the pagoda to maintain it. The practice continues to this day after being started in the 15th century by the Queen Shin Sawbu (Binnya Thau), who gave her weight in gold.[citation needed].