The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-07-25
THE ROAD TO MANDALAY
THE NOBLE SHWE BACON
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

pan1oon. Burma To all put
tbe merchant mariners, the invaoins
hosts of Industry whose SHIPS ctSMe
each other in the narrow river ha1gor
of this greatest port In Farther Al
dia ,Rangoon IL the site OF the noDies'
shrine in the Buddhist Worio. nan-
COON. the city Is less than three-scors
years old. but the Shwe Dagon, tne
great Rangoon pagoda, has !ifted Hs
slender spire toward Heaven Tor TWEEN
tv-fiva centuries. In the year thet Je-
rusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar,
two generations before the, expulsion
| of the Tarquins from Rome. century
before the defeat Of the GREEKS AZ
Thermopylae, 500 years before julius
Caesar crossed the Rubicon; almost
| six centuries before the beginning OF
| the Christian era, the Buddhist con-
yerts of lower Burma. obtained some
| relic. of the body Of the late departed
| teacher. Guatama, the Buddha. Select
ing a spot hallowed an sacred by the
devotees of lesser religions from the
time the world was young, these rel
les were enshrined on q nign mn sDous
two miles distant from the deepe9& ana
swtftest of the many mouths OF the
Irrawaddy River. The stupa or pa
coda erected then was only twenty
seven feet high and the relics were
buried in the center Of the pile OF ma
sonry, never again to be seen OF the
eyes of man.
Time went on and the religion OF the
Buddha spread throughout the greater
part of the East In time its native
india forsook its teachings. the mis-
sionaries of the Cross and the Crescent
| in their turn, by prayer and by eworos
| reduced the boundaries OF It's inffu-
| ence, but Burma remained ever true.
Pious men protected the old pagoda by
building over 1t with shell after shell
of masonry Shrines were built about
its base by the faithful, and devout
pilgrims gilded 1t with pure gold. Four
hundred years ago, just about the time
1t was found that America was not q
part of India, the pagoda was complet-
ed, and since that day It has not been
added to in stature nor in girth, al
though its rich establishment Is the
Rever-ending concern OF the devout.
Today the Shwe Dagon Stands high
on a platform partly a natural hill and
partly an artificial extension. 1t lifts
its tapering golden head $40 feet high.
which Is a hundred feet higher than
the dome OF the Capitol at Washing
ton and as high as the Park Row build
ing in New York. 1t Is solid struc-
ture and has, Of course, no windows
or other openings. 1t Is entirely COW
cred with gold leaf. the offerings OF
thousands of Buddhist pilgrims.
| Surmounting the spire Is golden
"ti," or umbrella, which is the newt
| able complement OF every pagoda In
Burma. From It depend scores OF
to every trifiing breeze with musical
naturalization. Under the IT. Is a
portion of the spire representing the
| lotus flower and the inverted begging
bowl of Buddha. This portion is COW
cred over with thick sheets OF gold.
and consequently Is impervious to
weather and to time. The gilded por-
of time In places where the leaf was
too thin, or has been suffered to re-
main too long without care. The great
| golden "tf' now Gaping the structure
was put up by one Of the last kings
of Burma at a cost of $250,000, al
though the I'll" itself and its golden
and jeweleled ornamentation was paid
for by popular subscription.
The pagoda platform Is reached by
long flight of stairs, broken by fire.
quent landings and crossing the an
cient protecting moat over modern
bridge. The stairway is covered over
and both sides are lined with the shops
Of those who sell flowers and gold
leaf for offerings, or the candles and
paper prayers which are necessary "a
worship If one would acquire great
merit, soda water and all sorts OF soft
drinks in bottles, sweets and more SUBJ
stantial food, cigars and cheroots. The
pagoda is always a lively place and
! there is no end to the business DE
for the last straggler at midnight hHs
not departed before the earliest wor-
shipper of the morn Is at hand. Bur-
mese girls and women keep the shops
and children all una Dashed, unhaber-
dashed and unafraid" beguile the
Christian tourist into buying roses and
| jasmines.
Leaving the stairs and the shops. one
! finds himself on the square platform
of the pagoda. Here he is lost in q
veritable forest Of slender pagoda
spires and smaller shrines. Every
wealthy Buddhist seeks to acquire
merit, in his old age, by building q pa
CODA. The whole country Is dotted
with them, but the group about the
base of the Shwe Dagon is the most
remarkable. There are to be seen an
] cient and decaying structures in the
/ purest Burmese style, unaffected by
contact with the outside world. Such
as these are ingeniously decorated with
intricate lakewood carving and serve
to win praise for the ancient Burmese
arts and create basis for regret al