Pagodas, Burmese
Myanmar (Burma) has thousands of religious structures—pagodas, temples, monasteries, ordination halls, nunneries, and rest-houses. Many are of great antiquity; in Pagan, the ancient capital, no less than 2,217 religious structures are to be found in a sixteen-square-mile area. The most sacred of these, and the most subject to pilgrimage, are undoubtedly pagodas. Pagodas are technically better known as stupas, cone-shaped monumental structures built in memory of Buddha and often enshrining relics alleged to be of the Buddha himself or sacred images of him. In Burmese, pagodas are closely identified with the Buddha; the term is the same for both— hpaya. Unlike the temple, which usually has interior space, the pagoda consists mostly of a solid monument with little or no usable interior space. It is commonly surrounded, however, by ample platform space for worship and many ancillary buildings. The Shwezigon Pagoda in Pagan is where Anawratha placed the thirty-seven spirits (nat) at the foot of the pagoda, turning them into a coherent cult that defers to the Buddha. The Shwedagon Pagoda, north of Yangon (formerly Rangoon), is one of the largest and tallest pagodas in the world, and it attracts large numbers of pilgrims. Pagodas, and control over them, are deeply political— freedom fighters, such as Aung San (1915–1947) and his daughter Aung San Suu Kyi (b. 1945), gave their speeches there, and most kings and politicians of renown in Myanmar have built pagodas or have aspired to do so. It is assumed that the building of apagoda would establish the builder on the path to nibbana (nirvana).
Personal deities and pagodas at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon in 1996. (STEPHEN G. DONALDSON PHOTOGRAPHY)Further Reading
Auboyer, Jeannine, et al. (1994) "Burma." In Forms and Styles: Asia. Cologne, Germany: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 131–159.
Falconer, John, et al., and Kim Inglis, eds. (1998) Myanmar Style: Art, Architecture, and Design of Burma. Hong Kong: Periplus.
Shwedagon: Symbol of Strength and Serenity. (1997) Yangon, Myanmar: Yangon City Development Committee.
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