lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

46YANGONWest Central Yangon #e 0 500 m1234‚23# úPyidaungsuYeikthaSt9#ÿKin WonMin Gyi StTo ChineseEmbassy12 # ÿ4th StWadan StThantaman Rd5th StA# ý33AKaingdan St42# # âNationalMuseum9th St# 44# fLan ThitJetty# ú 18Padonma Rd£ # Pyay RdMin Ye Kyaw Swar Rd7th StZa Ga War RdAnawrahta RdLan Thit StHledan St11th StPyay RdPongyi StYangon RiverZa Ga War RdPongyi St13th StMyoma Kyaung RdSamon Rd15th Stthe platform – unless your bare feet can takethe heat of the uncovered marble paving.The Stupa & Its TreasuresThe hill on which the stupa stands is 190ftabove sea level and the platform covers over12 acres. Prior to the British takeover ofsouthern Myanmar there had been defensiveearthworks around the paya, but thesewere considerably extended by the British.The emplacements for their cannons canstill be seen outside the outer wall.The main stupa, which is completelysolid, rises from its platform in a fairly standardpattern. First there is the plinth, whichstands 21ft above the clutter of the mainplatform and immediately sets Shwedagonabove the lesser structures. Smaller stupassit on this raised platform level – four largeones mark the four cardinal directions, fourmedium-sized ones mark the four corners ofthe basically square platform and 60 smallones run around the perimeter.BDAGON66Lanma Daw StMahabandoola RdBMadaw RdMyomaGroundLanmada£ #17th St# á 1St 21st22nd St# ú20# ú # Ú26 Chinesetemple2 CHINA# Ú19th StZiwaca StBogyoke Aung San RdLatha StCU Wi Za Ya RdPan Tra St6#Bo Ywe RdShwedagon Pagoda Rd66ZoologicalGarden£# þ37Pha Yar Rd34 î## þ 31New # þ # úCentral35 HotelBogyoke 30 # ú ## þ#ÿMarket4317 384 # ú24 22 25# Þ ð### úú # ú # úTheingyi14Plaza # ÿ2841 # þ# û # þ271040# ú# ÿ32# ú 53 # à29 # Ú6 # ú# ÿ7# ÿ ð#23rd St24th St25th St27th StBo Yar Nyunt StNa Wa Day StYaw Min Gee St28th St66Shwe Bontha St29th St30th St31st StTOWN19# ú# ÿ# ÿ21# ÿ 681115CDVarious planetary posts around the baseconform to the days of the week, and localspray at the station that represents the daythey were born. If you know what day youwere born, locals can point you to the appropriatepost. The one for Mars (Tuesday) correspondsto Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday – thisis where she prays whenever she visits theshrine; look up and you’ll note a closed-circuitTV camera trained on the spot.From this base, the zedi rises first in threeterraces, then in ‘octagonal’ terraces andthen in five circular bands – together theseelements add another 98ft to the stupa’sheight.The shoulder of the bell is decorated with16 ‘flowers’. The bell is topped by the ‘invertedbowl’, another traditional element ofstupa architecture, and above this stand themouldings and then the ‘lotus petals’. Theseconsist of a band of down-turned petals, followedby a band of up-turned petals.Strand Rd0 0.2 milesDAh Lan Paya Pagoda RdSee NorthernYangon Map (p48)Merchant StBo Min Gaung StSee East CentralYangon Map(p42)39 # þ# ú16# ÿ# þ 3613‚Sule Paya Rd1234