The Sule Pagoda (; ) is a Burmese Buddhist

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 ...

located in the heart of 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 ...

, occupying the centre of the city and an important space in contemporary Burmese politics, ideology and geography. According to legend, it was built before 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 ...

during the time of the

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

, making it more than 2,600 years old. Burmese legend states that the site for the Shwedagon Pagoda was asked to be revealed from an old nat who resided at the place where the Sule Pagoda now stands. The Sule Pagoda has been the focal point of both Yangon and Burmese politics. It has served as a rallying point in the 1988 uprisings, 2007 Saffron Revolution and 2021 Spring Revolution. The pagoda is listed on the

Yangon City Heritage List The Yangon City Heritage List is a list of man-made landmarks in Yangon, Myanmar, so designated by the city government, Yangon City Development Committee. The list consists of 188 structures (as of 2001), and is largely made up of mostly religious s ...

Stupa

The Sule Pagoda incorporated the original Indian structure of the stupa, which initially was used to replicate the form and function of a relic mound. However, as

Burmese culture The culture of Myanmar (Burma) ( ) has been heavily influenced by Buddhism. Owing to its history, Burmese culture has significant influence over neighboring countries such as Laos, Siam, Assam in India, and Xishuangbanna regions in China. It h ...

became more independent of the Indian influences, local architectural forms began to change the shape of the pagoda. It is believed to enshrine a strand of hair of Lord Buddha that the Buddha himself is said to have given to the two Burmese merchant brothers, Trapusa and Bahalika. The dome structure, topped with a golden spire, extends into the skyline, marking the cityscape.

History and legend

According to Burmese legend the site where the Sule pagoda now stands was once the home of a powerful nat (spirit) named Sularata (the Sule Nat). The king of the Nats, Sakka, wished to help the legendary king Okkalap build a shrine for Lord Buddha's sacred hair-relic on the same site where three previous Buddhas had buried sacred relics in past ages. Unfortunately, these events had happened so long ago that not even Sakka knew exactly where the relics were buried. The Sule nat, however, who was so old that his eyelids had to be propped up with trees in order for him to stay awake, had witnessed the great event. The gods, Nats and humans of the court of Okkalapa therefore gathered around the Sule nat and asked him the location, which he eventually remembered. Inside the Sule pagoda

The Sule Pagoda was made the center of Yangon by Lt. Alexander Fraser of the Bengal Engineers, who created the present street layout of Yangon soon after the British occupation in the middle of the 19th century. (Lt. Fraser also lent his name to Fraser Street, now Anawrattha Street and still one of the main thoroughfares of Yangon). It is a Mon-style chedi (pagoda), octagonal in shape, with each side long; its height is . Except for the chedi itself, enlarged to its present size by Queen

Shin Sawbu Shin Sawbu (, ; , ; 1394–1471) was queen regnant of Hanthawaddy Kingdom, Hanthawaddy from 1454 to 1471. Queen Shin Sawbu is also known as Binnya Thau (, ) or Old Queen in Mon. Queen Shin Sawbu and Queen Jamadevi of Haripunjaya are the two most ...

(1453–1472), nothing at the pagoda is more than a little over a century old. Around the chedi are ten bronze bells of various sizes and ages with inscriptions recording their donors' names and the dates of their dedication. Various explanations have been put forward for the name, of varying degrees of trustworthiness: according to legend it was called ''su-way'', meaning "gather around", when Okkapala and the divine beings inquired about the location of Singattura Hill, and the pagoda was then built to commemorate the event; another legend connects it ''su-le'', meaning wild brambles, with which it was supposedly overgrown, and a non-legendary suggestion links it to the Pali words ''cula'', meaning "small" and ''ceti'', "pagoda". Khin Maung Nyunt, from a series of articles on famous bells in Burma in the ''Working People's Daily'': this article published 31 January 1988. Suel Pagoda

Location

The Sule Pagoda is located in the center of downtown Yangon and is part of the city's economic and public life. During the 1988 and 2007 protests, the Sule Pagoda was a functional meeting point for anti-government and pro-democracy protesters.

Role in Burmese politics

During the

8888 Uprising The 8888 Uprising, also known as the People Power Uprising and the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riots in Burma (present-day Myanmar) that peaked in August 1988. Key events occurred on 8 August 1988 and ther ...

, the pagoda was an organizing point and destination selected on the basis of its location and symbolic meaning. In 2007, during the Saffron Revolution, the Sule Pagoda was again utilized as a rallying point for the pro-democracy demonstrations. Many thousands of

Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community). The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the prātimo ...

gathered to pray around the pagoda. Sadly, in both 1988 and 2007, the Sule Pagoda became the first place to witness the brutal reaction by the Burmese government against the protesters.

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