Burmese pagoda

Burmese pagodas are stupas that typically house Buddhist relics, including relics associated with Buddha.[1] Pagodas feature prominently in Myanmar's landscape, earning the country the moniker "land of pagodas."[2] According to 2016 statistics compiled by the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, Myanmar is home to 1,479 pagodas exceeding 27 feet (8.2 m) in height, a quarter of which are located in Sagaing Region.[3] Several cities in the country, including Mandalay and Bagan, are known for their abundance of pagodas. Pagodas are the site of seasonal pagoda festivals.[4]

Bawbawgyi Pagoda is one of the earliest existing examples of a Burmese pagoda.

Burmese pagodas are enclosed in a compound known as the aran (အာရာမ်, from Pali ārāma), with gateways called mok (မုခ်, from Pali mukha) at the four cardinal directions. The platform surrounding a Burmese pagoda is called a yinbyin (ရင်ပြင်).

Terms
Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon is Myanmar's most prominent zedi.
Ananda Temple in Bagan is a classic example of a pahto.

In the Burmese language, pagodas are known by a number of various terms. The umbrella term phaya (ဘုရား, pronounced [pʰəjá]), which derives from Sanskrit vara,[5] refers to pagodas, images of the Buddha, as well as royal and religious personages, including the Buddha, kings, and monks.[6] Zedi (စေတီ), which derives from Pali cetiya, specifically refers to typically solid, bell-shaped stupas that may house relics.[7] Pahto (ပုထိုး) refers to hollow square or rectangular buildings built to resemble caves, with chambers that house images of the Buddha.[1][7] Burmese pagodas are distinguished from kyaungs in that the latter are monasteries that house Buddhist monks.

Types

Burmese zedis are classified into four prevalent types:

  1. Datu zedi (ဓာတုစေတီ, from Pali dhātucetiya) or datdaw zedi (ဓာတ်တော်စေတီ) - zedis enshrining relics of the Buddha or arhats[8]
  2. Paribawga zedi (ပရိဘောဂစေတီ, from Pali paribhogacetiya) - zedis enshrining garments and other items (alms bowls, robes, etc.) that belonged to the Buddha or sacred personages[8]
  3. Dhamma zedi (ဓမ္မစေတီ, from Pali dhammacetiya) - zedis enshrining sacred texts and manuscripts, along with jewels and precious metals[8]
  4. Odeiktha zedi (ဥဒ္ဒိဿစေတီ, from Pali uddissacetiya) - zedis built from motives of piety, containing statues of the Buddha, models of sacred images[8]

Of the four classes, dhammazedis and udeikthazedis are the most prevalent, since they are routinely erected by donors as a work of merit.[8] Burmese zedis are typically constructed with bricks, covered with whitewashed stucco.[8] Prominent zedis are gilded with gold.[8] Burmese zedis are crowned with a spired final ornament known as the hti, which is hoisted in a traditional ceremony (ထီးတော်တင်ပွဲ, htidaw tin pwe) that dates to the pre-colonial era.[9][10]

See also

References
  1. Seekins, Donald M. (2006). Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar). Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810864863.
  2. Thurber, Robert Bruce (1921). In the Land of Pagodas. Southern Pub. Association.
  3. "The Account of Pagodas and Stupas which are over 27 feet height". The State Samgha Maha Nayaka Committee. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  4. Thurber, Robert Bruce (1921). In the Land of Pagodas. Southern Pub. Association.
  5. Myanmar-English Dictionary. Myanmar Language Commission. 1993. ISBN 1-881265-47-1.
  6. Suan, Pau, Cope (2015). "Reflecting the Missio - Logoi of the First Overseas American Missionary". Papers. 1.
  7. Reid, Robert; Grosberg, Michael (2005). Myanmar (Burma). Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781740596954.
  8. Hardiman, John Percy (1900). Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States. Superintendent, Government printing, Burma.
  9. Scott, James George (1910). The Burman, his life and notions. London Macmillan.
  10. Langfield, Michele; Logan, William; Craith, Mairead Nic (2009). Cultural Diversity, Heritage and Human Rights: Intersections in Theory and Practice. Routledge. ISBN 9781135190705.
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