Sule Pagoda

It is a Burmese Stupa, which is located in the center of Yangon city and covers the main area of present-day Burmese politics, ideology and geography. According to myth, it was constructed during the time of Buddha, which makes it old for more than 2,500 years.

Stupa

Sule Pagoda subsumed the actual Indian construction of the Stupa, which earlier was used to recreate the form and function of an artefact mound. Although, Burmese culture becomes more independent with time, because of which the shape of Sule Pagoda changed. It is believed that the Buddha had given the strand of hair to be enshrined, to two Burmese merchant brothers. The dome structure of Pagoda topped with golden steeple that gets extend into the skyline.

History And Legend

Earlier, in place of Sule Pagoda there was once the home of a powerful spirit, named as Sularata. The king of spirit, named as Sakka, desired to help the legendary King Okkalap in order to build a shrine with the sacred hair relic on the same place where the three foregone Buddhas had buried sacred relics in previous ages. Later, the Sule Pagoda was become the center of Yangon by Lt. Alexander Fraser of the Bengal Engineers.

Role In Burmese politics

Pagoda had once become an organizing point because of its location and its symbolic meaning at the time of 8888 Uprising. In 2007, Sule Pagoda was again utilized as a rallying point in the course of Saffron Revolution.