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Myanmar Pagoda Buddhist Shrine Temples
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Pagodas and a
Buddhist temple are more or less a
synonym of Myanmar,
'The golden Land' or 'The Land of Pagodas'.
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Burma
pagodas and temples
are present everywhere; in cities
and towns,
villages
and hamlets, on the banks and
sometimes right in rivers and seas. A
oriental pagoda always represents the deep
dedication to Buddhism as you can see at
pagoda pictures below and elsewhere in our
website. Sometimes people create a garden
pagoda but this is mainly for decorative
purposes.
The most beautiful Myanmar
style pagoda outside Myanmar is at
Penang Georgetown
in Malaysia, here are the best
pagoda pictures,
about Thai pagodas you can find more at
Thailand travel.
Perched
atop hills and mountains,
in forests and glades, beside highways and
byways, gleaming golden or glinting white in
the sunlight and symbolizing the firm faith
in Theravada Buddhism of 80% of its
inhabitants. A Buddhist pagoda is almost
always a golden or yellow pagoda or a white
pagoda.
Buddhist
pagodas
are constantly built and renovated
to gain merit and / or it needs a repair, in
particular after the heavy monsoon floods.
Sometimes a pagoda collapses, but this don't
happen often since the pagoda architecture
is in a way that there is no hollow space
inside. A pagoda or zedi is a solid
structure, this is similar with a big pagoda
and small pagoda. Pagodas always look more
or less in the same way, it wont matter if
it is a Myanmar or Burmese, a Chinese
pagoda, Japanese |
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pagoda
or Thai pagoda
etc. The main difference
is mostly the environ of a pagoda. Sometimes a
whole small village is built around a pagoda,
as it is with the Shwedagon Pagoda and
sometimes the pagoda is isolated on top of a
hill. Pagodas are even
built into the river, a example of a pagoda
in the river is the Kyauktan Pagoda on the
way from Yangon to Syriam. |
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Stupas and pagodas
symbolize the faith and compassion
of the Burmese people in Buddhism,
it’s the way of life, the
philosophy, culture and influencing
strongly the everyday life.
This sacral buildings
are prominent points everywhere in
the country, religious buildings
were created to replicate parts of
the Hindu Buddhist cosmos to support
harmony between the gods and people.
At the centre of the
Buddhist Universe is Mount Meru,
Myinmo in Myanmar language. At
different heights of Mount Meru
heavens are interpreted where
celestials dwell. Sun, moon, stars,
and planets are also abode of
celestials. |
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modeled after Mount
Meru at Mingun |
Around Mount Meru
are seven concentric
mountain chains separated by seven
seas. Beyond the mountains is the
ocean with four continents facing
the cardinal points of Mount Meru.
Most structural and
decorative parts of religious
architecture in Myanmar has symbolic
meaning. The main pagodas can be
considered a symbol of Mount Meru,
home of the gods and centre of the
Universe. Covered walkways and
stairs leading to the pagoda
platform also serve to remind the
devotee that they are leaving the
earth for a higher plane. Enclosures
and passageways skirting the main
Buddhist shrine represent the
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encircling ranges of
Mount Meru. At the very top is the
umbrella (hti) the symbol of royalty
and the pagoda orb containing
donations in form of jewelry and
precious stones plus gold.
Atop the pagoda is a
vane, along with small tinkling
bells, at the pagoda platform are
strange animals plus guardians and
other sculptures, they protect and
welcome the faithful by terrifying
evil doers and repelling bad forces.
Planetary posts surmounted by
animals representing the days of the
week and a person may worship
according to the day on which he or
she was born.
At larger pagoda
platforms such as the Shwedagon
there are many additional shrines at
the cardinal directions with
incense, flowers, some rest-houses,
praying halls etc. for the
convenience of worshippers. Bells
and gongs of all sizes, umbrellas,
flowers, and |
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prayer posts are set
around the pagodas by the faithful
to gain merit. The top reward to
gain merit is the construction of a
pagoda or temple.
A Buddhist shrine
is regular visited,
this is part of local living.
Pagodas and temples are also centers
of social and cultural activities
and in the walkways to the platform
are plenty of shops selling flowers
and various souvenirs. For many
people the annual pagoda festival is
the top event in the year,
accompanied with merriment and
simply to have fun and a good time.
It is an opportunity for people to
meet and buy goods at the market
which is held at every festival,
presents are given to monks and
money to repair a pagoda |
Buddhist Shrine north
Myanmar |
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Buddhist Shrine
south Myanmar |
At Yangon |
At Sagar Inle Lake |
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Temple Cross Section and
Layout |
The temple layout has its origins in the caves used by
Buddhists of the very early days in
India, the Burmese word is gu, or
cave.
The hollow structure
of a temple allows the visitor to enter. With the
time and the emergence of different
building techniques the layout of
Buddhist temples grew
more sophisticated spreading out
into chambers and passageways.
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Pagoda or Stupa Cross
Section and Layout
more about Pagodas |
Pagoda or Stupa layout are solid
structures, the layout is usually
square or five sided. Enshrined in a
pagoda are sacred relics or a
particular potent image or figure of
the Buddha, scriptures and / or
precious items.
The
pagoda structure is terraced, three
or five times, with a bell shaped
top. The terraces of pagodas
indicate the slopes of the cosmic
mountain Mt. Meru, the abode of
Hindu gods. The stupa is a symbol of
the Buddha and naturally functions
as a protective structure for the
relicts. |
Opposite the northern entrance of the
Shwedagon Pagoda on the banks of a small
lake is the world peace pagoda, a very
idyllic pagoda picture.Shwedagon Pagoda Platform
Yangon Myanmar
Eye catching are also the
other pagodas and temples on the Shwedagon
Pagoda Platform. Take a look at the great scenery
around the Shwedagon Pagoda looking down over
Yangon. |
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The zedi is the rudiment
of the
original four-square temples.
The zedi consists of a pyramidal or polygonal base (panat-chi),
with niches (hlaing-gu) for images of the Buddha.
It is
represented in all stages of its decrement.
Above the base of the pagoda come tapering courses (pyissagan), after
these the bell-shaped body of the upper pagoda (kaunglaung separated by three
mouldings (kyo-waing) from the thabeit-hmauk (inverted
alms-bowl). Then follow seven heavy bead-rolls (pung kun-hnillon)
surmounted by the lotus (kyd-lan, salaung-bon), out of which
issues the bulb (ngapyaw-bu, pein-hne-daung).
Several Buddha sculptures and images are in every
Myanmar pagoda and temple.
The canopy
(umbrella) oft the Myanmar pagoda is a metal construction of graduated bands one
above the other, richly embossed and ornamented. To the
lower edges of these bands small bells are hung, which have
vanes to their clappers to make them tinkle in the wind.
This terminates the
Myanmar pagoda in a long finial bearing a vane (hngemmana)
and at the apex a silver orb studded with, jewels (seimbu).
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On lesser zedi a glass ball or bottle caps the finial.
The tic is always gilt, the cone generally whitewashed. In
wealthy towns the cone of the Paya-dyi is gilt from crown to
platform (tamanthalin).
Unlike the ancient temples with
their stairs and corridors,
the later zedi - pagoda- is a solid mass of brick
and earth, plastered over.
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The summit is
inaccessible, except by means of scaffolding. Zedi arc
commonly spoken of as Paya, in the same way as are the
images of the Buddha, for which the distinctive term is
sindu. kyaung.
- In addition to
the zedi or
Myanmar
pagodas and temples
there are three other classes of
religious edifices the tazaung, wut, and zayat.
All these may be decorated in the palatial style and are
mostly of wood. But a public well or a roadside
water-stand, the portal of a bridge or a wharf, may likewise
be surmounted by the royal pyatthat in virtue of the
religious distinction which attaches to every work dedicated
to public use by private bounty.
The
temple zayat is intended for sojourners in the precincts on
duty days. The wut differs from the zayat in having a dais
for images of the Buddha. The tazaung is only for the
reception of images.
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Bagan Sunset Pagoda
Panorama
 
Bagan Gubyaukgyi Pagoda
Stone Window Bagan Pagoda Buddha
Balloons over Bagan Panorama
Ananda Temple in the Morning Mist
Myanmar Temple
at
Bagan, the Dhammayangyi is a massive
structure and one of the most impressive
temple in Bagan,
more. |
Bagan Ayeyarwady
River Boat and Pagoda |
Temple Bagan Oxcart and
Pagodas |
Monk Commuter |
Myanmar
Temples
are a unique showcase of the country, real
eye candy, they visible everywhere, from
mountain tops to in the river and
more. |
Myanmar pagodas |
Buddhist Shrines
are everywhere in the
country as here at the Mount
Popa Monastery,
more. |
Thambuddhe Temple |
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When
visiting the country there are a
couple
of must see, this is: Mount
Popa, Pindaya Caves,
Kyaiktiyo,
Bagan, Thambuddhe Temple at Monywa,
Mandalay, Inle Lake and Yangon.
Mount Popa
is in
central
Myanmar close to
Bagan,
this is an
extinct volcano a
monastery and Buddhist Shrine
was built on the top. To get up to the location at
1500
meters should be
included in any Popa trip.
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