Religious Yangon: monks, Buddhas and golden pagodas.

Yangon is obviously not just about skewers, street vendors and women with white cheeks. There are a lot of religious sites around the city, and amongst them Schwedagon Paya. This pagoda is visible from almost all over town, with it´s massive golden construction. The stupa is covered with hundreds of kilos of pure gold, and its top is studded with 5451 diamonds totalling 2078 carats (!). Apart from being a magic sight for the eye, Schwedagon Paya is the most sacred of all Buddhist sites for the people of Burma - one that all Burmese Buddhists hope to visit once in their lifetime.

We also visited the Chauktatgyi Buddha, which is a massive laying Buddha. The Buddha himself is a rather boring sight, but I was so fascinated by this elderly man who followed the back of the monks on their praying rounds. As rude as I am, I shadowed all of them with my camera - photos are below.

 

The man following the monks: 

Klem

AK