The stupa
Myanmar's tallest.
Anagoria — CC BY 3.0 · LBM1948 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anagoria — CC BY 3.0 · LBM1948 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · LBM1948 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Shwemawdaw Pagoda is a gilded Buddhist stupa in the city of Bago, and at 125 metres overall it is the tallest stupa in Myanmar, rising even above Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. A ten-day pagoda festival is held here every spring. Tradition says the first stupa was built here in the Buddha's lifetime to hold two of his hairs, but historians date the pagoda to at least the late 14th century, when Bago was capital of the Hanthawaddy kingdom. Kings added to it over the centuries, and one raised it to about 90 metres in 1796. Earthquakes in 1912, 1917 and 1930 brought it down, and it was rebuilt between 1951 and 1954. Stairways lead up to a wide terrace around the golden stupa, ringed by small stupas and shrines. On one side of the terrace lies a huge piece of the old spire that fell in the 1917 earthquake, left where it landed as a witness to the pagoda's history. Kanbawzathadi Palace is under 1 km away in a straight line, and Shwedagon Pagoda about 70 km. Visitors go barefoot. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to this area, and roads and flights may be cut, so read the current advice before you plan.
Myanmar's tallest.
From the 1917 quake.
Stupas and shrines.
Bago, Myanmar
Yes, at 125 metres overall.
In spring, lasting ten days.
