Sule Pagoda, Yangon

Sule Pagoda, Yangon (20 November, 2003)


Sule Pagoda (GPS: 16.7744, 96.15875) is a Buddhist temple at the heart of Yangon, Myanmar. As a matter of fact, Sule Pagoda is located right within a traffic circle, at what is considered the very heart of Yangon. When the British administrators planned the grid-street system for Yangon, they used Sule Pagoda as reference point for the centre of the city. This temple has a landmark 48-meter (157 ft) pagoda. The octagonal structure is indicative of Brahman-Buddhist style.

The name of Sule Pagoda is linked to the Sule Nat, the guardian spirit of Singuttara Hill (refer to the Shwedagon Pagoda for more details). According to legend, two monks Sona and Uttara, were sent from India to Thaton as missionaries after the Third Buddhist Synod, around 230BC. The King of Thaton gave them permission to build a shrine at the foot of Singuttara Hill to preserve a hair of the Buddha which they brought from India. The pagoda was known for centuries at Kyaik Athok, which means "the pagoda that contains the hair relic" in the Mon language, or Sura Zedi, after the minister who supervised its construction, Maha Sura.

Sule Pagoda at night (20 November, 2003)


Sule Pagoda at night (20 November, 2003)

Sule Pagoda is on the map of Yangon

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