lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

0 580 m#e 0 0.3 milesEF56th StBo Ta Htaung Zay RdRdUpper PazundaungPAZUNDAUNG9#ÿPazundaung CanalMahabandoola RdELower Pazundaung RdStrand RdThaketa Bridge1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1ing features the original blue-and-white Starof David motif.Several colourful Hindu temples can befound in the centre of the city, includingSri Kali (Map p 46 ; Anawrahta Rd; h5-11am &3-9pm), between 26th and 27th Sts, and theSri Devi (Map p 42 ; cnr Anawrahta Rd & 51st St;h6.30-11.30am & 4.30-8.30pm), both of whichare Technicolor temples following the classicSouth Indian style of towers. These are thecentres for the city’s annual Murugu Festival,famous for colourful street processions featuringacts of ritual self-mutilation.F12345Christians get in on the act in Yangon aswell with St Mary’s Cathedral (Map p 42 ; cnrBo Aung Kyaw St & Bogyoke Aung San Rd), built ina bizarre red brick (and with an equally bizarrered, green and white interior), whichwill excite colonial buffs.OUTSIDE CITY CENTREShwedagon PayaBUDDHIST STUPAer¯ti8u®.urC"(Map p 48 ; admission $5; h5am-10pm) Heartstopping at any time, the Shwedagon Payaglitters bright gold in the heat of the day.Then, as the sun casts its last rays, it turns acrimson gold and orange, magic floats in theheat and the mighty diamond at the spire’speak casts a beam of light that reflects sheetwhite, bloody red and jealous green to thefar corners of the temple platform. It can bequiet and contemplative or colourful andraucous, and for the people of Myanmar itis the most sacred of all Buddhist sites, onethat all Myanmar Buddhists hope to visit atleast once in their lifetime.Visible from almost anywhere in thecity, Shwedagon is located to the north ofcentral Yangon, between People’s Park andKandawgyi.The admission fee, which goes to the government(see p 21 ), includes a lift ride to theraised platform of the stupa. Of course, likemost local visitors, you may walk up one ofthe long graceful entrances, by far the moreexciting method of entry. The north gate isespecially photogenic at night.The following details the history and attributesof the main structure. Freelanceguides (they’ll locate you before you canfind them) at the stupa can fill in the detailsabout the surrounding elements.HistoryThe great golden dome rises 322ft above itsbase. According to legend this stupa – of thesolid zedi (conelike) type – is 2500 years old,but archaeologists suggest that the originalstupa was built by the Mon people sometime between the 6th and 10th centuries.In common with many other ancient zedi inearthquake-prone Myanmar, it has been rebuiltmany times, and its current form datesback only to 1769.During the Bagan period of Myanmar’shistory (10th to 14th centuries), the storyof the stupa emerged from the mists of legendto become hard fact. Near the top of theeastern stairway you can see an inscriptionrecording the history of the stupa to 1485.43YANGON SIGHTSSIGHTS