Probably the second most famous pagoda in Myanmar would be the Shwezigon Paya. My horse cart driver brought me to this very pagoda or Paya. Incidentally this Paya was the closest one to the New Heaven Hotel and is certainly walking distance from the the bus terminal in the town of Nyaung U. As we were going there, I would observe the Burmese as the go about their life. There is really extreme poverty in this area, it is quite ironic that they would be sitting on top of one of Myanmar’s greatest treasures.
There were also small red brick temples along the way and I actually got excited just seeing them. I remember these temples resembled the temples we saw in My Son in Vietnam, except that the temples here in Bagan were in much better shape. I actually wanted to go down and have a look but my driver didn’t want to. Apparently he was something much much better to show me.
Immediately from the outside of the gate you can see the golden zedi of the Shwezigon Paya. This construction of temple was started the 11th century by the King Anawrahta, considered one of the pioneers of temple building in Bagan. Unfortunately, he did not live to complete the temple which was completed by his successor Kyanzittha. Despite the temple itself a structure dedicated to Buddhism. There are still room for the native beliefs in spirits called nat. You can see evidence of belief in nat all over Myanmar.
I dismounted from the horse cart and my driver asked me to go around the temple and explore, he will be waiting for me at the same place. The covered hall leading up to the temple area was lined with hawkers selling all sorts of souvenirs and Buddhist stuff. I wasn’t interested in them so I continued on to the temple area where I needed to remove my footwear. I was okay with that until I realize that the temple grounds were already hot from being exposed to the sun too long.
I was skipping and hopping from the hot tiles when I realized that the marble tiles are significantly cooler than the other tiles. These tiles were a godsend to me, such that I was able to comfortably walk around the temple area at a more relaxed pace. The highlight of the temple area was obviously the golden zedi. The zedi is literally covered in gold. It made me realize that for such a poor people, they sure have immensely strong faith in their religion.
There were other impressive shrines at the site. Most of them remind me of temples in Thailand, though I won’t be surprised if someone told me that these temples are more authentic than the ones in Thailand. There were also a lot of people visiting the Shwezigon Paya, though the vast majority of these visitors are locals. I realized that this is one place that will not get over touristed.
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