The Shwezigon Pagoda or Shwezigon Paya is a Buddhist temple located in Nyaung-U, a town near Bagan. It is a prototype of Burmese stupas, and consists of a circular gold leaf-gilded stupa surrounded by smaller temples and shrines. The gilded pagoda sits on three rising terraces. Enameled plaques in panels around the base of the pagoda illustrate scenes from the previous lives of the Buddha, also known as the 550 Jatakas. Its construction began during the reign of King Anawrahta and was completed in 1102 AD, during the reign of King Kyansittha. Within the compound of the Shwezigon Pagoda is a stone pillar containing Mon language inscriptions dedicated by King Kyansittha.
It was known that the Shwezigon was built to enshrine one of the four replicas of the Buddha tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and it was to mark the northern edge of the city. The other three tooth replicas were enshrined in other three more pagodas. The second tooth replica went to Lawkananda Pagoda, a smaller pagoda to the south end of the city. Then the third replica went to Tan Kyi Taung (Tant Kyi Hill) Pagoda, a pagoda on the western bank of the Ayeyarwady River. The last one was enshrined into Tu Yuan Taung (Tu Yuan Hill), a pagoda on the summit of a hill 32 km to the east.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of a series of eight, issued on September 2, 2013, to celebrate the 27th Southeast Asian Games, which took place in Myanmar between 11 and 22 December 2013.
References
Shwezigon Pagoda - baganmyanmar.com
Shwezigon Pagoda - Wikipedia
Shwezigon Pagoda - Welcome 2 Asia
Sender: Matthew
Sent from Yangon (Yangon / Myanmar), on 11.05.2015
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