Page 102 - Experience Thailand and More

NEARBY Over the years, the stupa was destroyed in recurring earthquakes,

and each time it was rebuilt, it grew in stature. Thus, from the earliest
21-meter-tall stupa, it rose to become Myanmar’s tallest, standing 114
ATTRACTIONS meters high. Incorporated into this last reconstruction, which has been
described as rather gaudy, is the hti, an umbrella affixed to the top of
a Myanmar stupa, from the pagoda that collapsed in the earthquake
of 1930. A great time to visit, if possible, is during Bago’s Paya Festival
held during the Myanmar month of Tagu (March-April).

Shwemawdaw Pagoda (Bago)
Pagoda Road, Bago, Myanmar
(+95) 52 222 1068
Open daily from 6.00 a.m. - 9.00 p.m.

Traveling north from Kyaiktiyo to Yangon brings you first to Bago.
Once known as the port town of Pegu by early European traders, this
small coastal city seems to have a higher concentration of temples
and pagodas than most anywhere else in Myanmar. One of the more
famous is the Shwemawdaw Paya. First built early in the tenth century
to hold two strands of hair given to two Mon merchant brothers by the
Gautama Buddha, in 982 and again in 1385, two of the Lord Buddha’s
teeth are said to have been added to this treasure.

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