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WHAT TO DO
AND SEE
Bawgyo Paya
8 Kilometers west of Hsipaw, beside the Hsipaw–Kyaukme Road, Hsipaw, Shan, Myanmar
Around eight miles from Hsipaw on the road to Kyaukme is the quite striking
Bawgyo Pagoda. Its name can be translated as “Dad, come get me,” and
legend has it that a Shan king had the stupa built after his daughter, who
he had married off to the Burmese king as part of a peace deal, was sent
home and died on this spot before reaching her father. It’s also said that
the original stupa was constructed nearly 2000 years ago to house four
Buddha images carved from wood presented to King Nara-Pati-sithu by
a celestial being. Another piece was planted in the ground where now a
Bodhi tree flourishes. Each year, on the full moon in the Myanmar month
of Tabaung (Feb/Mar), a festival will be held during which for just one day,
the Buddha images will be revealed and worshippers allowed to affix gold
leaf. This, the most recent incarnation of the Shan-style pagoda is quite
captivating with its gilded polygons and gem-studded stupa.
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