Shwedagon Pagoda At Night, Yangon, Burma

Filed under: Myanmar (Burma), Photo Friday Written by:Chris Mitchell.

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Every Friday, a new photo of amazing Asian people and places here on Travelhappy. This week: Burma’s holiest shrine, the Shwedagon Pagoda

Thousands dead, hundreds of thousands homeless and the country’s already poor infrastructure smashed by Cyclone Nargis - this has been the latest tragedy to befall Burma. The most devastating natural disaster to hit Asia since the tsunami, the cyclone has torn apart the former capital Rangoon, renamed as Yangon by the ruling military junta. There is little drinking water or food, electricity and phone lines are wiped out, petrol and oil are scarce and there is widespread flooding. (Read this chilling eyewitness account from the Democratic Voice of Burma and get the latest updates from Google News).

However, amidst the full scale destruction of Yangon, Burma’s holiest shrine Schwedagon Pagoda remains intact. I took this photo in March 2007 when I visited Burma for the first time, travelling to Yangon and then up to the temples of Bagan. I spent the my afternoon at Shwedagon with a local monk who joined me as I walked up to the Pagoda’s hill. We spent the afternoon together, with him showing me around the pagoda and explaining the dazzling smaller shrines around the main stupa itself.

I thought of him last September when the monks began to protest against the military junta and were violently suppressed - and I’ve been thinking of him again this week as his hometown has been torn apart. Schwedagon Pagoda is the most powerful symbol in all of Burma, a focus of hope - it’s where every protest march heads towards, and now as Yangon begins to pick up the pieces, it will provide some glimmer of comfort for the Burmese in the grimmest of times.

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Posted on May 9th, 2008.