Sule Pagoda (Sule Paya)

Description

Sule Pagoda is located in the center of Yangon. at the junction of Sule Pagoda Road and Mahabandoola Road. Kyauktada Township. Yangon. Myanmar. This 48 meter (152 feet) high golden dome was used by the British as the nucleus of their grid pattern for the city when it was rebuilt in the 1880s.

The pagoda’s peculiarity is its octagonal- shaped pagoda. which retains its shape as it tapers to the spire.

The Sule Pagoda is an excellent landmark. It is said to be over 2.000 years old. The pagoda is said to enshrine a hair of the Buddha: its Mon name. Kyaik Athok translates as “the pagoda where a Sacred Hair Relic is enshrined”. The golden pagoda is unusual in that its octagonal shape continues right up to the bell and inverted bowl. It is surrounded by small shops and all the familiar non-religious services such as of astrologists. palmists. and so on.

In the downtown area Sule Pagoda is a monument which most foreign visitors pass by unnoticed. But it is the only central piece of the capital. like the Arc de Triumph in Paris.

It is the Sule Pagoda. Its legend says that Sule Pagoda marks the site where King Ukkalapa held meetings to build Shwedagon. “Su-Wei” is a Myanmar word meaning “meeting”. In course of time ‘Su-Wei’ corrupted to ‘Su-Le’ Successive town planners. King Thayawaddy. Montgomery. Fraser and others. all decided to keep Sule Pagoda as the centre piece of Yangon because of its strategic location. religious significance and artistic beauty. It can be reached through four entrances of the four stairways facing four cardinal directions or by two overhead bridges.