41(^) SIGHTSYANGON
SIGHTS
YANGON
SIGHTS
every now and again a truly monstrous one
sticks its head out of the water.
A short walk from Botataung Paya at
Botataung jetty, you can watch ferries and
oared water taxis cross the Yangon River.
Sule Paya BUDDHIST STUPA
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(Map p 46 ; cnr Sule Paya & Mahabandoola Rds; ad-
mission $2) It’s not every city whose primary
traffi c circle is occupied by a 2000-year-old
golden temple. Surrounded by government
buildings and commercial shops, the tall zedi
at Sule Paya is another example of the strange
incongruity of the Yangon cityscape. Yet, it’s
this mix of modern Asian business life meld-
ing with ancient Burmese tradition that is
the highlight of the Sule Paya. Early evening,
just after the sun has gone down and workers
have rushed home for the night, is the most
atmospheric time to both visit the temple
and make a turn of the streets surrounding
it. Many take the time to pause by the Sule
Paya to pray and meditate on the day’s events.
The central stupa’s name, Kyaik Athok,
translates in the Mon language as ‘the stupa
where a Sacred Hair Relic is enshrined’. As
with many other ancient Myanmar shrines,
it has been rebuilt and repaired many times
over the centuries, so no one really knows
exactly when it was built.
The golden zedi is unusual in that its oc-
tagonal shape continues right up to the bell
and inverted bowl. It stands 151ft high and
is surrounded by small shops (including an
internet café and a guitar shop) and all the
familiar nonreligious activities that seem to
be a part of every zedi in Myanmar. Besides
its signifi cance as a landmark and meeting
place, maybe its most mundane function is
as a milestone from which all addresses to
the north are measured.
National Museum MUSEUM
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(Map p 46 ; %371 540; Pyay Rd; admission $5;
h10am-4pm) Try to ignore the fact that the
priceless collection at the National Museum
is appallingly labelled and lit, and just focus
on the treasures that lie within this cavern-
ous building.
Highlights of the collection include the
26ft-high Sihasana (Lion Throne), which be-
longed to King Thibaw Min, the last king of
Myanmar. It’s actually more of an entrance
doorway than a throne but let’s not quibble,
because it’s a damn sight more impressive
than your front door! Further signs that the
kings of old didn’t understand the meaning
of the word ‘subtlety’ are the jewel-encrust-
ed beds, silver and gold rugs, fl ashy palan-
quins (one of which is palatial in its size and
splendour), kitchen chairs made of ivory,
some breathtaking ceremonial dresses and
a large collection of betel-nut holders and
spittoons, which alone could make the Brit-
ish Crown Jewels look like cheap tack picked
up at an ‘everything for a dollar’ shop.
The upper fl oors are less impressive and
take you on an amble through natural histo-
ry, prehistory and a very poorly lit art gallery.
Mahabandoola Garden PARK
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(Map p 42 ; admission K500) Just southeast of the
Sule Paya, this square urban park off ers pleas-
ant strolling in the city centre’s heart, espe-
cially in the early morning when the air hasn’t
yet fi lled with traffi c fumes. Occupying the
centre of the northern half of the park is the
THE GRAVE OF THE LAST MUGHAL
In 1858, 27 years before they banished Burma’s last king Thibaw to Ratnagiri, India, the
British executed a similar regime change in Delhi. Following the failed Sepoy Mutiny,
Bahadur Shah Zafar II, India’s last Mughal emperor, was exiled to Rangoon with his wife
Zeenat Mahal and remaining members of his family. The ex-emperor, who had a reputa-
tion as a talented Urdu poet, died four years later in November 1862.
William Dalrymple, who chronicles Bahadur Shah Zafar’s life in The Last Mughal,
writes of how his shrouded corpse was hastily buried in an anonymous grave in his pris-
on enclosure, so that, as the British Commissioner in charge insisted, ‘No vestige should
remain to distinguish where the last of the Great Mughals rests.’
A mausoleum – the Dargah of Bahadur Shah Zafar (Map p 46 ; Ziwaca St; admission
free) – was later built on the location of the prison, but the grave itself remained a mystery
until 1991 when workmen discovered it 3½ feet underground during excavations for a new
structure at the site. Covered in silks and strewn with sweet-smelling petals, it is now a
place of pilgrimage for Indians, Muslims and others interested in the history of the Raj.