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Shwezigon Pagoda, Bagan by David.Clay.Photography –

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Shwezigon Pagoda

The Shwezigon Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa located in Nyaung-U, Myanmar. A prototype of Burmese stupas, it consists of a circular gold leaf-gilded stupa surrounded by smaller temples and shrines. 

Construction of the Shwezigon Pagoda began during the reign of King Anawrahta, the founder of the Pagan Empire, in 1059–1060 and was completed in 1102, during the reign of his son King Kyansittha. 

Here are some fascinating facts about the Shwezigon Pagoda

1. The Shwezigon Pagoda is believed to enshrine a bone and tooth of Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha was an ascetic and spiritual teacher of ancient India who lived during the 6th or 5th century BCE. He was the founder of Buddhism and is revered by Buddhists as a fully enlightened being who taught a path to Nirvana, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. 

This particular Shwezigon pagoda, a Buddhist religious place, is believed to enshrine a bone and tooth belonging to Buddha.

 2. Over the centuries the  Shwezigon pagoda had been damaged by natural calamities

Long Corridor to Shwezigon Pagoda by rheins –

The area has been rocked by many earthquakes and other natural calamities. The pagoda has been affected by them but has been refurbished several times. 

A notable renovation was carried out by King Bayinnaung during the late 16th century. In the 1975 earthquake, there was considerable damage to the spire and the dome necessitating large renovation. 

3. The Shwezigon pagoda is covered with more than 30,000 copper plates

During one of the largest renovations of its kind, the pagoda was substantially strengthened by covering more than 30,000 copper plates, which were donated by local and international devotees; gilding of the dome has been done during 1983–1984 and again in recent times. However, the pagoda’s bottom-level terraces have remained mostly in their original form.

4. The Shwezigon pagoda is in the form of a cone 

Shwezigon Pagoda by rheins –

The pagoda is formed by five square terraces with a central solid core. There are footprints below the four standing Buddha statues here. 

Jataka legends are depicted on glazed terra-cotta tiles set into three rectangular terraces. At the entrance of the pagoda, there are large statues of guardians of the temple.

5. There are four bronze standing statues of Buddha in the Shwezigon pagoda

The statues are stated to be of the current age Buddha. At the outer limits of the pagoda, there are 37 nats deified along with an intricately carved wooden sculpture of Thagyamin a Burmese version of the Hindu god Indra. 

Within the compound of the Shwezigon Pagoda, there is a stone pillar containing Mon language inscriptions dedicated by Kyansittha.

6. The Shwezigon pagoda is a pilgrimage center

Shwezigon pagoda by Ye Phyo Paing –

It is located close to Bagan in the plains in the Shwe Zigon settlement at Nyaung-U.

Bagan is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar.

From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Bagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute Myanmar. 

7. The pagoda is a replica of the pyramidal Mahabodhi Temple 

The Mahabodhi Temple a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient but rebuilt and restored Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, marking the location where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.

The pagoda is a replica of the pyramidal Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, the location of Buddha’s illuminating realization in India.

8. The pagoda has a shrine where 37 nats are deified

Shwezigon pagoda, Bagan, Myanmar by Gerd Eichmann –

The pagoda, a prototype of Burmese stupas, is like a bell-shaped stupa in traditional Mon people, which became the prototype architectural feature for many stupas built in the then Burma. It has features of staircases, gates, and a richly ornamented spire fitted with a large golden umbrella-type finial embedded with gems.

The relics that are believed to be enshrined in the pagoda are Buddha’s collar-bone and his frontal bone from Prome, and his tooth from Ceylon. On the outer limits of the pagoda, there is a shrine where 37 nats are deified along with an intricately carved wooden sculpture of Thagyamin, Buddhist deva Åšakra, king of the nats, which is believed to be 900 years old; it is the Burmese version of the Indian god Indra holding his weapon, the thunderbolt. These shrines of 37 nat spirits have been built to circumambulate as a homage to these relics.

9. The interior of the Shwezigon pagoda has a maze of interconnected narrow passages

The interior, though conceived as a solid body, has a maze of interconnected narrow passages, where devotees affix dedicatory slabs on the walls by paying a donation and praying for special blessings. 

Even though the relics have not been found in the pagoda, believed to have been stolen, devotees still feel the sanctity of the stupa and embed slabs hoping to attain nirvana from the force field created by the embedded relics.

10. The Shwezigon pagoda houses footprints of Buddha

There are four bronze standing statues of Buddha which are 12 to 13 feet in height, which are stated to be of the current age Buddha deified on the four sides of the temple; these four are Kakusandha in the northern face, Konagamana in the eastern wall, Kassapa in the southern wall and the Gautama Buddha to the west wall. 

All of these Buddhas are cast in beaten bronze and seen with their right hand in a posture of abhayamudra, meaning the fear, not gesture, and the left hand holding the monk’s robe.