Buddhism and pagodas

Although in Myanmar you can easily find Hindu temples or Muslim mosques the religion drives that part of Asia is Buddhism, being the chosen faith of nearly 90% of the Burmese people. And you can find it everywhere: from majestic temples, Buddha statues and pagodas scattered through the landscape.


Like the massive Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar’s holiest place, a 2500 year old temple that holds some of Buddhas’s hairs and stands on the top of a hill dominating Yangon‘s skyline (even if it’s outside the city itself) with its gold-leaf covered stupa and one of the few structures at Myanmar with proper nighttime lighting that makes it visible miles away.


Like the curious [Sule Pagoda][1]that sits literally in a roundabout at the center of Yangon, having all the downtown busy traffic flowing around it all day. An odd position that means you have to cross the street to reach it but also means it’s visible in most of the main avenues.

Like the gold and red arches of Mahamuni Temple at Mandalay, along with Shwedagon and the Golden Rock one of the three . Or the many, many other less important or less impressive places found elsewhere.

 


But not everything has to do with golden buildings or Buddha statues, it has also to do with smaller and human things: the many [monks][4] found everywhere, the small girl that bows as the bus on a [bumpy ride][5]passes near a Buddha statue, the piles of shoes at the temples entrance or the parents taking their children to pour some water over the animal of their birthday.

 

Don’t forget to check the rest of my Myanmar posts or browse all the Myanmar photos.