The Botataung Kyaik De Att Pagoda ( ; also spelled Botahtaung; literally "1000 military officers") is a famous

pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...

located in downtown

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, near the Yangon river. The pagoda was first built by the Mon around the same time as was Shwedagon Pagoda—according to local belief, over 2500 years ago, and was known as Kyaik-de-att in

Mon language The Mon language, formerly known as Peguan and Talaing, is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon people. Mon, like the related Khmer language, but unlike most languages in mainland Southeast Asia, is not tonal. The Mon language is a recogn ...

. The pagoda is hollowed within, and houses what is believed to be a sacred hair of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

. The Botataung Pagoda was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and was rebuilt after the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

History

According to Burmese tradition, it was on a hillock at this site that one thousand military officers of the king were drawn up as a guard of honor to welcome the landing in Burma of the relics of the Buddha brought over from India more than two thousand years ago. An account from ancient histories of the building of the Pagoda states that the Buddhist king Sihadipa gave one of his ministers a sacred hair from the Buddha's head and two body relics and this minister, renowned for his goodness and faith, consulted a famous religious leader and, on his advice, chose the Botataung Mount on the bank of Yangon River at a distance one thousand tars (7,000 cubits) in a south-easterly direction from the

Shwedagon Pagoda The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ; ), officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' (, , ), and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda, is a gilded stupa located in Yangon, Myanmar. The Shwedagon is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanma ...

and there enshrined the sacred relics.

World War II

The pagoda was completely destroyed on 8 November 1943 when the RAF, which was bombing the nearby Yangon wharves and destroyed the pagoda too. The pagoda was left in "blackened ruins".

Rebuilding

Rebuilding of the pagoda started on the same day that the country gained independence from the UK: 4 January 1948. Part of the excavation process, a relic chamber was discovered. The chamber in size and in height gradually decreasing in size towards the top and appearing like a huge pot placed up-sided down to cover completely what lay inside. In the very center of this treasure vault was discovered a wonderful stone casket in the shape of a pagoda with a diameter of and high. Encircling this stone casket were figures of nats carved out of laterite and evidently placed there to act as sentinels. The casket was immersed in mud as water had trickled into the vault during the many centuries it had been there. With this pagoda-shaped stone casket within the relic chamber were found various kinds of treasures: precious stones, ornaments, jewelry, terracotta plaques and images of gold, silver, brass and stone. The total number of these images recovered from within and without the relic chamber was seven hundred. The terracotta plaques, some of them in a fair state of preservation, depict Buddhist scenes. One of the terracotta plaques excavated from the relic chamber bears an image of the Buddha and though affected by age and moisture it is exceptionally important. On the reverse side are inscribed characters which are very close to the ancient Brahmani script which came from Southern India. It is a precious evidence of ancient times and has been deciphered by U Lu Pe Win, Superintendent Archaeologist, Government of the Union of Burma, who points out that the initial word "e" from "evam vadi" shows that the script is in the manner of the ancient Mons. This is proof of the belief that the people who erected the Pagoda in ancient times were the Mons. When this cone or stone layer was removed there was found inside another stone layer of similar shape but with a brilliant gold coating and this was more representative of a pagoda in shape while its exquisite workmanship and brilliance inspired feelings of deep religious fervor in the crowd present. Some mud had penetrated even here and the sides of the base were covered with this and when it was washed and sifted precious stones and gold and jewelry were discovered round the base. This second stone casket was then removed and inside was found a small pagoda of pure gold standing on a silver salver or base and beside this golden pagoda was a carved stone image high of very ancient workmanship. When the gold Pagoda was lifted up, a tiny gold cylinder of length with a diameter of . was found and in this tiny cylinder were found two small body relics each the size of a mustard seed and what is believed to be a Sacred Hair of the Buddha. This hair was coiled round and fastened with a little lacquer on which were traces of gold plaster.

Structure

The new pagoda is of original design and in height , on a base of x . The main attraction is the

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

's hollow inside, which has a mirrored maze-like walkway lined with glass showcases containing many ancient relics and artifacts that were sealed inside the earlier pagoda.

Gallery

2016 Rangun, Pagoda Botahtaung (01).jpg, Entrance to pagoda 2016 Rangun, Pagoda Botahtaung (72).jpg, Building inside pagoda's complex 2016 Rangun, Pagoda Botahtaung (31).jpg, People pouring Buddha statue 2016 Rangun, Pagoda Botahtaung (79).jpg, Buddha statue 2016 Rangun, Pagoda Botahtaung (57).jpg, Buddha statues Botataung Pagoda stupa with flags Yangon Myanmar.jpg, Stupa with flags Bo Bo Gyi, Botahtaung Pagoda, Yangon.jpg, Rohani Bo Bo Gyi is believed to be the guardian spirit of Botahtaung Pagoda Botahtaung Pagoda.JPG, Interior Botahtaung Pagoda 2.JPG, Interior

References

External links

* * {{Buddhist sites in Myanmar Tourist attractions in Myanmar Buddhist temples in Yangon 20th-century Buddhist temples Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Myanmar