lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

77

DELTA REGION

SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

AROUND YANGON

SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

AROUND YANGON

PATHEIN

stupa supposedly enshrined Buddha relics

and a 6in gold bar.

Another legend says a Muslim princess

named Onmadandi requested each of her

three Buddhist lovers build a stupa in her

honour. One of the lovers erected Shwe-

mokhtaw, the others the less distinguished

Tazaung and Thayaunggyaung Paya.

Whichever story you choose to believe,

Bagan’s King Alaungsithu is thought to

have erected a 46ft stupa called Htupayon

over this site in AD 1115. Then, in 1263, King

Samodagossa took power, raised the stupa

to 132ft and changed the name to Shwe-

mokhtaw Paya, which means Stupa of the

Half-Foot Gold Bar.

The hti (umbrella-like pinnacle) consists

of a topmost layer made from 14lb of solid

gold, a middle tier of pure silver and a bot-

tom tier of bronze; all three tiers are gilded

and reportedly embedded with a total of 829

diamond fragments, 843 rubies and 1588

semiprecious stones.

The southern shrine of the compound

houses the Thiho-shin Phondaw-pyi sitting

buddha image, which, the story goes, fl oated

to the delta coast on a raft sent from Sri Lanka

during ancient times. According to the legend,

an unknown Sinhalese sculptor fashioned

four diff erent buddha images using pieces

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Shwemokhtaw Paya
3
1
C
B C
2
3
1
2
B
A
A D
D
Pathein e#0500m00.2miles
‚
To Ngwe Saung Beach
(29mi); Chaung Tha
Beach (35mi)
‚
To Settayaw Paya
(700m); Shwe Sar
Umbrella Workshop
(700m)
Pathein
æTop Sights
Shwemokhtaw Paya............................B2
æSights
1 Central Market.....................................B2
2 New Market..........................................B2
3 Night Market ........................................B2
4 Twenty-Eight Paya .............................. C1
ÿSleeping
5 La Pyae Wun Hotel ..............................B2
6 Paradise Hotel .....................................B3
7 Sein Pyae Hlyan Inn.............................B2
8 Taan Taan Ta Guest House ................B2
úEating
9 Myo Restaurant ...................................B3
New City Tea Centre ....................(see 5)
10 Shwe Zin Yaw Restaurant...................B2
11 Zone Pan ..............................................B3
þShopping
12 Parasol Workshops .............................B3
ïTransport
13 Buses to Chaung Tha Beach .............. C1
14 Buses to Ngwe Saung Beach.............. A1
15 Buses to Yangon..................................B2