Burmese pagodas and other religious buildings
See also the Architecture and Archaeology sections
Individual Documents
| Title: | | A TIGRESS ON THE SHWEDAGON: A RESEARCH NOTE |
| Date of publication: | | December 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | "...Donald Stadtner brought the following piece of history regarding the Shwedagon to our attention and sent a
photograph of glasswork that recorded the event, together with the text below from Walter del Mar, The
Romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1906, 27-28). We reproduce it
further below along with a detail of the glass painting, from a private collection in Yangon. The scene
depicts the incident quite literally , with the soldier climbing "to the roof of one of the smaller
shrines....." Although del Mar refers to the animal as a tiger, it was in actuality a tigress and the
events discussed below occurred on 3 March 1903, the tigress having moved to the vicinity of the
Shwedagon from Gyophu Lake..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research 6, 2008 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (292K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 October 2010 |
|
| Title: | | U Khan Dee: The Hermit on the Hill |
| Date of publication: | | June 2002 |
| Description/subject: | | "More than fifty years after his death, U Khan Dee, the hermit of Mandalay Hill, is still remembered as one of the most remarkable figures of Burma's late colonial period. During the latter half Burma's colonial rule, pious visitors to Mandalay Hill would recount their tales of the venerable hermit monk who possessed remarkable powers. Some spoke of his great height, others claimed he was invisible, still others said he could turn silver into gold. And although people all over Burma today still speak reverently of U Khan Dee, his life was marked by controversy. Also known as Yathee Gyi U Khan Dee (the Great Hermit U Khan Dee), his legendary status was achieved only through a long uphill struggle. In 1908, U Khan Dee first arrived at Mandalay Hill from Yamethin Township, Mandalay, after leaving the Buddhist monkhood where he spent 12 years. He was driven by the strong desire to reconstruct religious buildings and restore Buddhist statues that were severely damaged by the series of fires that ravaged the city around the turn of the century..." |
| Author/creator: | | Aung Zaw, Shawn L Nance |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 10, No.5 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 May 2008 |
|
| Title: | | Text and New Contexts: Shwedagon and Kyaikhtiyoe today |
| Date of publication: | | December 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | "Texts and Contexts",
December 2001 Conference,
Universities' Historical Research Centre,
Yangon University...
Abstract:
The paper discusses the use of texts in current renovation of pagodas in
Myanmar, taking as examples aspects of work undertaken at the
Shwedagon and Kyaikhtiyoe in the last two years. Different types of
texts, from inscriptions and traditional accounts to contemporary
technical reports, are used to illustrate the complex tradition found in
the country today. These are presented in the context of past interaction
including Mon influence and the Hsandawshin (Sacred Hair) heritage,
as well as present links such as planetary aspects and the role of
renovation in encouraging the sustenance of Theravada practice. |
| Author/creator: | | Elizabeth Moore, |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar Historical Research Journal, University of Yangon [forthcoming] |
| Format/size: | | pdf (747K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Shwedagon Through the Ages |
| Date of publication: | | May 1999 |
| Description/subject: | | History has not always been kind to Shwedagon, Burma's most sacred pagoda, but after two and a half millennia, it still stands as a timeless monument to the spiritual aspirations of Burmese Buddhists. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 7. No. 4 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Remarks on the Subject [of the Senbyú Pagoda at Mengún] |
| Date of publication: | | 17 April 1879 |
| Description/subject: | | "In a paper describing what I had seen of architectural remains of Hindu character in
Java, which was read before the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in October, 1861, there
occurred the following passage in reference to that magnificent monument of
Buddhism, the Boro Bodor:—
“Mr. Fergusson, who gives a good account of the Boro Bodor in his
Handbook of Architecture, considers it to be a kind of representation of the great
Buddhist monasteries, which are described in the Ceylonese writings as having been
many stories high, and as containing hundreds of cells for monks....." |
| Author/creator: | | Col. Henry Yule, C.B |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2004, |
| Format/size: | | pdf (278 K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.soas.ac.uk/sbbr/editions/soas-bulletin-of-burma-research-volume-2-issue-1.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 23 December 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Some Remarks upon COL. YULE'S Notes on the Senbyú Pagoda |
| Date of publication: | | 23 June 1869 |
| Description/subject: | | "With reference to the interesting account of the Senbyú Pagoda at Mengun, read at
the last meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society, and more particularly with reference to
the remarks by Col. Yule on the Buddhas of the Boro Bodor, I would, with the
greatest deference to the writer, beg to offer some suggestions derived from personal
observation of the manner in which many groups of figures of Buddha (Sákya Muni)
are sculptured in Bengal and the North-West Provinces of India..." |
| Author/creator: | | C. HORNE, F.R.A.S. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2004 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (17 K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.soas.ac.uk/sbbr/editions/soas-bulletin-of-burma-research-volume-2-issue-1.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 23 December 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Some Account of the Senbyú Pagoda at Mengún, near the Burmese Capital, in a Memorandum |
| Date of publication: | | 06 January 1868 |
| Description/subject: | | "...1. The Pagoda was built in the reign of king Bodo Piyah,1 in the Burmese year 1178
(A.D. 1816), by his grandson, Noungdau Gyee, now known as Bagyeedau Piyah,2
which specifies his relationship as paternal uncle to the present reigning king.
2. It is situated at Mengoon, on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, a couple of
hundred yards only from the huge brick ruin which is known as the Mengoon pagoda..." |
| Author/creator: | | CAPT. E. H. SLADEN, Political Agent at Mandalé |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2004 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (260 K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.soas.ac.uk/sbbr/editions/soas-bulletin-of-burma-research-volume-2-issue-1.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 23 December 2010 |
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