PHOTOS TAKEN WITH CANON POWERSHOT SX 720 HS
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SHWEDAGON PAGODA is the world's oldest, continuously evolving and worshipped Buddhist temple complex and also the biggest. Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Java are both abandoned and no longer in constant use as a place of worship.
Shwedagon Pagoda is unique as it was built when Gautama Buddha was still alive! Yes, that is some 2,600 years ago around 588 BC! Incredible but true!
After Prince Siddartha found Enlightenment and became the fourth Buddha in this kalpa, 2 merhant brothers from Myanmar heard about Him and went to see and hear His teachings in northern India. The 2 brothers Tapusa and Balika converted to Buddhism after listening to Buddha's teachings.
During alms giving they gave Buddha 8 honey cakes and after eating them Buddha gave them 8 strands of His hair and instructed them to enshrine with the relics of the previous 3 Buddhas in their homeland of Okapala which is now Myanmar.
Upon reaching Okapala they presented the 8 hairs to the King of Okapala who managed to discover the burial place of the relics of the previous 3 Buddhas with the help of a Nat (local Burmese deity) atop the hill where Shwedagon now sits.
The 8 strands of hair were enshrined inside a secret cave chamber deep inside the earth below the main stupa together with the walking stick of Kakusanda Buddha, water filter of Kanagamana Buddha and saffron robe of Kasapa Buddha.
After enshrinement the entrance was sealed permanently and all access became lost as it is believed whoever possessed these 4 priceless treasures would attain such great power as to be king of the world and rule the planet.
Rumors have it many tried to find the secret entrance but failed or have mysteriously vanished like they never existed before.
As this temple contained the greatest treasures in the universe, it was called Shwedagon which means Reliquary of the Four.
The original height was 66 feet but since the 14th century, succeeding Burmese kings and queens had enlarged it till its present height of 99 metres or 326 feet.
The top slim spire shines brilliantly like the sun for good reason---it is surrounded by 3,154 gold bells and some 80,000 diamonds and precious gems surmounted by the 77.77 carat solitaire diamond!
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