Mahazedi

Site common name	Mahazedi
Type of artwork	Architecture
Country	Myanmar
Geographic Coordinates Decimal degree	Lat : 17.339167 Long : 96.453889

History of production	Mahazedi was constructed during the reign of Bayinnaung for enshrining the tooth relic of the Buddha which had been taken from Sri Lanka.
Art	Mahazedi is the stupa in octagonal plan. Whereas the moulding of the bases is designed in sloping Mon-affiliated fashion, the staircases of the Burmese affiliation punctuate the moulding in every direction. The bell-shaped element and the spire are newly-added. The combination between Mon and Burmese affiliations corresponds to the historical event. During that time, the capital of the Burmese Taung U kingdom was shifted to Hamsavati. This shift encourages the intermingling between two schools of art.
Period	Historical Period
Art period	Hamsavati
Age	16th century A.D.
Religion	Buddhism
Sect	Theravada
Religion and belief	The tooth relic of the Buddha is believed by the Burmese to be the original one. It has been taken to Burma during the reign of King Bayinnaung. During that time, Sri Lanka was threatened by the Portuguese and the King of Sri Lanka was not able to take care of the relic. The relic therefore was taken over to the Burmese. The enshrinement of the tooth relic also attests the ambition of Bayinnaung who tried to promote himself as the emperor of the universe and tried to exalt Burma as the centre of the cosmos.

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