FEATURE-Treasure piles up at Yangon's golden
heart
08:22 p.m Mar 20, 1999 Eastern
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON, March 21 (Reuters) - The Shwedagon Pagoda, heart
and soul of devoutly Buddhist Myanmar and one of the forgotten
wonders of the world, is getting a facelift that will pile another ton
of gold onto its glittering central stupa.
The breathtaking 2,500-year-old pagoda is already decorated
with 2.3 tons of gold and encrusted with over 5,000 diamonds,
2,000 rubies as well as sapphires and other precious stones.
Now, as part of the first major renovation work in more than a
century, another 9,000 gold plates weighing nearly a ton are being
added to the central stupa and repairs made to the sacred
umbrella, or ''Htidaw,'' that crowns it.
The work is due to be completed at the end of March.
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
Over the ages, the great and the good have donated to the pagoda
to improve their chances of attaining the highest goal of the
Buddhist faith -- the state of Nirvana.
Among them have been monarchs like 15th century Queen
Shinsawbu of Hanthawaddi, who donated her weight in gold, and
her successor, King Dhammazedi, who gave four times his.
Myanmar's military rulers are simply following the tradition.
The committee responsible for the renovation was formed under
the patronage of the head of military intelligence, Lieutenant
General Khin Nyunt, who is considered the most powerful of the
country's generals.
Ko Hla Win, a welder at the renovation site, cannot believe the
good fortune that has allowed him to participate.
''It's more than the chance of a lifetime, but of many,'' he said.
''It's the sort of golden opportunity someone gets during the cycle
of rebirths only if he is very fortunate.''
''Contributions, whether in cash or kind or service and in
whatever amounts to such a sacred pagoda will help us be reborn
into peaceful high-class lives and will certainly be conducive to
attaining of our final goal -- Nirvana.''
According to legend, the pagoda was built to enshrine eight hairs
of the last Buddha, Gautama, and relics of three Buddhas said to
have preceded him.
The bell-shaped central stupa, measuring nearly 100 metres (326
feet) high and with a base circumference of 433 metres (1,421
feet), is plated with more than 23,000 solid gold slabs.
It has thrilled generations of travellers.
''The Shwedagon rose superb, glistening with its gold, like a
sudden hope in the dark night of the soul of which the mystics
write, glistening against the fog and smoke of the thriving city,'' W.
Somerset Maugham wrote in his 1930 book ''The Gentlemen in
the Parlour.''
PRIDE AND MYSTICISM
''I never miss the Shwedagon each time I come here,'' said a
European tourist on his sixth visit to Myanmar.
For locals, it is a source of both pride and mysticism.
''It is more than an ordinary religious site for us,'' said Tha Tun
Maung, a lecturer from the Archaeology Department of Yangon
University. ''It is the best possible showroom, exhibiting our
material richness and the high standard of our culture.''
For Maung Maung, a government employee turned entrepreneur,
it is where he turns in times of both sorrow and happiness.
''It was to the Shwedagon I went first to bury my sorrow and
pray for my mother when I heard she had died of a heart attack
over 20 years ago,'' he said.
''And about 15 years ago, when I was told I had been appointed
to my previous job, I went there to say prayers.''
The most important renovation work has been on the ''Htidaw,''
which was donated by King Mindon in 1871.
Its has undergone three previous repairs in 1919, 1930 and 1970,
but now needs extensive work to due the ravages of weather and
old age.
Regular renovation work, normally carried out every four years,
has involved rebuilding of stairways and reguilding.
Thousands of people, from the very rich to the humble, have made
donations ranging from one-kyat notes to gold bars weighing a
kilogram.
Singapore's Golden Pagoda Temple donated 132 gold bells and a
gold bowl weighing more than six kg (13 lb) and individuals have
contributed 43,275 items of jewellery.
Housewife Ma Hla Hla was ''overwhelmed by generosity and
reverence'' when she heard about the renovation appeal.
''So I took off all the jewellery I had on and donated it,'' she said,
adding that she gave her diamond earrings, gold necklace and a
ruby ring.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. |
