Shwedagon

Keywords : hairy relic, Shwedagon, Queen Shinsawpu, King Dhammazedi

Site common name	Shwedagon
Type of artwork	Architecture
Village	-
Province/City	Yagon
Country	Myanmar
Geographic Coordinates Decimal degree	Lat : 16.798056 Long : 96.149722

History of production	Shwedagon is mentioned in the inscription as being restored by Queen Shinsawpu and King Dhammazedi in the 15th-16th century A.D. A large amount of gold was weighted equivalently to the weight of the king and then pasted them on the Stupa as the decoration. However, the Stupa is believed to be more ancient than the 15th century and is believe to enshrine the hairy relic of the Master.
Art	Stylistically, Mon Stupa is strongly different from that in Burmese art. The base is broadly divided in to angles. The bases are sloping and the staircases as well as the upper circumambulatory path are absent. Miniatures stupas are normally cloistered at the ground level. The banana-liked bud at the top is more elongate than that of the Burmese one. However, some characters still share the same style as that of Burmese art, including the bell-shaped Anda’s decorations, the absent of Harmika and the insertion of lotus under the banana-liked bud.
Period	Historical Period
Art period	Hamsavati
Age	15th-16th century A.D.
Religion	Buddhism
Sect	Theravada
Religion and belief	The popular myth of Shwedagon narrates that the merchants Tapussa and Bhalikka, the first group of Buddhists, after presenting the provision to the Master, recived the hairy relic from the Lord. Then the merchants carried the relic by boat to Yangon. King Okkalapa. King of Yangon, patronized the construction of the Stupa on the hill called Singuttaram believed to be the sacred place enshrining the utencil relics of three previous Buddha, such as the club of Kakusandha, the water purifier of Konagamana and the lower garment for showering of Kassapa.

Type of License	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
Rights	Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation	2015-02-00
Record creator	Chedha Tingsanchali