The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-03-21
Sh7ve Ddgon Pa9oda
Hx FRANK G. CARPENTER.
tCopyright. 1910, by Frank G Carpenter
Rangoon, 1910. Z

OME WITH INT hiis
look at The -shwe Dagon Pa
~ CODA, the hottest shrine of the
Buddhist religion. 1t is the mecca OF
one-tenth of mankind, and the hIne
million followers of the prophet VINO
live here in Burma consider it the most
sacred spot upon earth. The pagoUa
stands on a little hill on the banks 81
the Irawadi river In this RED not to%Hii
8fsRangoon The sun here5ts deaalS at
nooT1day and we get up with the crows,
THEIR cawing begins before day, and
4he Heht is just coming through the
balm trees as we sit down An the hotei
bedrooms to our tea, toast and Jam
before starting out.
A black turband Hindu with rat
like Indian pony carries us in ms ghar-
~ through the wide streets of Ran
room. We pass half naked coolies on
their way 10 work. jostle the street wa
terworks consisting Of bare-legged
men, who. with buckets. are sprlnRllng
the roads; turn out for the carts
hauled by bumped bullocks carrying
great loads, and at last pass through
section of fine bungalows in which
the better classes OF the city live, and
are dropped at the foot OF Pagoda nil
Morning mt the shrine
1t is now Z o'clock this bright Sun
day morning. and tie worshipers are
out IN ftIlf force. Scores Of brown
skinned. shaver dreaded monks clad In
a single sheet or .yallow cotton are go
Ing in andsents of the rest houses along
The wav Each carries a begging bowl
for the rice offerings which are freely
given. We see scores of worshipers on
their way to the shrine, and at the en-
trance find peddlers of flowers incense
and Candles 10 be offered to the gods
= severhead. go
We can see the great pagoda long be-
Z dan chi Il C
the sky five hundred feet above the
. spot where we get down from our
- gharry. With the hill upon which it
stands the monument is as tall as the
: great marble shaft erected to Washing
ton on the banks OF the Potomac; and
as we look up are dazzled by the
- blaze of gold upon 1t, and the wonder
full structures which form it's base. The
sides of the hill are covered with carved
sso buildings each of which is a jewel, and
.fz a gorgeous covered avenue of gold,
< with a ridge roof upheld by white mar
BILE pillars. leads by stairways to the
platform above The platform itself
covers fourteen acres, or much space
as the Pyramid of Cheops. and it is
from this that the gold spire starts.
But first let us make our way up
through the 'arcades There IS no road
on earth more6curfous than that which.
leads to the shrine, Its stone floor has
the bare feet OF the thousands who
2 have tramped up to pray. Tile wor-
z shippers take off their sandals as they
come to the entrance. and walk on with
them in their hands. We foreigners
keep our shoes on and mix with the
crowd AS we go in we hear the birds
sing. Thousands of them have made
nests in the carvings, and they fly
back and forth through the arcades
and about the pagoda from daylight to
dark. At night they roost on the
gold. According to the tenets- of
anything that has life, and the birds
know they are in the house. of their
friends.
Burning Away Ones Sins
Going onward we pass booths all the
way Pretty Burmese girls with plugs
of gold. silver or glass as big as my
thumb in the lobes of their ears, sit
cross-legged on the mats, selling offer
ings for Buddha. The candles are of
all sizes, from tapers as thin, as the
finger of a 2-year-old baby : TO great
cylinders OF wax as tall as the girls.
who are Selling and as flick as their
waists. buy bunch OF the tapers
and give them over to one of the wor-
shippers She smiles with delight at the
thought of the sins that Will be washed
away they burn, and thanks me pro-
fusely.
81 little beyond this we stopped
by priest with nickel-in-the- slot
box slung around his bare neck by
string. He has little brass triangle
tied to his right index finger, and he
strikes upon this as he prays. making
n sound like a bell. The passersby-
drop coins into the slot, and thereby
acquire merit and prayers.
Upon reaching the top Of the ave-
nue., which Is about one thousand feet
long, we turn and look back upon the
gay crowd passing through. 1t is a
mass of bright colors The Burmese
wear the rsost delicate pinks, yellow
and greens. The men have silk turbans
IS gay as rainbow, and the whole is
. Kaleidoscope which makes the dark
avenue a mass of bright hues. ~
Buddha's Golden Mountain
But come out. on the torn, +, and,
look up at the pagoda. despair OF de-
scribing IT. : It is mountain -of gold
which ends In spire nearly 400 feet
high. Tho stone platform where we
are standing would make a half dozen
blocks of one of our cities, and the mon
uinent alone has at the base circum-
ference OF a quarter of mile. That
golden umbrella which you see on the
l=spfre looks small from this point 1t
Il big enough to cover a good-sized
house. and 1t is studded with Jewels
IADtSii ~ Tie Sotucu Dcls WHICH HduB
Around It's rim. tinkiing In the breeze.
The sound is mingled with the singing
of BIRDS and the rustling of palm leaves.
That umbrella cost more than $4,000
whom IL was made, something like a gem
sraffon ago. !.
"A Free Gift to Buddha
This great structure and all its sur
roundings were formed by enforced gifts
from the worshipers of Buddha. The
szlab0 upon 1t was voluntary, and when
the king sent out notice that 1t was
to be built. money and jewels flowed
in to him from all parts Of Burma. The
naonument is kept up by the free-will
offerings Of The people II has been
plated with gold leaf again and again,
until the brick and stucco or which 1t
Is made contain more of the precious
metal than the best ore Of our big west
ern mines.
One OF the last kings of Burma once
made Vow that he would give his weight
se zfn gold to the monument. After he had
satdlxen a bath. and scrubbed himself down
alto the lowest possible number of pounds
Il ne jumped on one side of the scales and
+ ptted up gold on the other 1t took just
az. Enough to make 1t cost him $4,000. With
-aott1e money more gold leaf was bought
<r-hnd the upper part OF the pagoda received
ceRs fresh coat. l say fresh, but l doubt
whether even then the new part could
have been distinguished from the old
ne whole mighty monument has hardly