Page 145 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

Bago SoutheaStern MyanMar 143
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
at the time of research, it was possible to travel overland to all of the towns featured in this
chapter. Permits are still required for travel to the farthest reaches of the Myeik archipelago,
and the more enticing parts of this area are still only accessible to those on organized
multi-day boat tours. operators arrange permits, although it can take up to two weeks to
receive them – you’ll need to plan ahead. If you’re just visiting the more accessible islands on
a day-trip from Myeik or Kawthaung, then permits are no longer required.

After the Hanthawaddy kingdom collapsed in 1539 (see p.362), King Bayinnaung
(also known as Bayintnaung) sacked the city in his struggle to annexe Lower Burma.
The energetic monarch then set about rebuilding Bago as his capital, digging a moat
filled with crocodiles (which are now long gone) and building the Kanbawzathadi
Palace (see p.145). However, in 1599 Bago was razed again, continuing a pattern of
destruction and reconstruction that has continued almost to the present – the town
was last levelled by an earthquake in 1930. After the Bago River silted up in the 3
sixteenth century, Bago lost access to the sea and ceded its position as a trade centre
to Thanlyin (then called Syriam), and the town slowly slipped back into obscurity.

Shwemawdaw Pagoda
• Pagoda Rd • Daily 5am–10pm • Entry covered by the Bago Archeological Zone ticket; camera fee K300
Visible for many kilometres around, Shwemawdaw Pagoda’s vast golden dome
dominates Bago’s skyline. Buddhist legend has it that a pair of merchant brothers
built the monument to enshrine two of Buddha’s hairs in 582 BC, with successive
generations adding relics and extending the spire to its current height of 114m
– making it taller than even Shwedagon in Yangon – and covering it with 1.5 tonnes
of gold leaf.
The zedi has fallen victim to numerous earthquakes over the years. A large chunk
of brickwork that collapsed in 1917 is dramatically embedded in its western side,
sprouting incense sticks from cracks in its mortar. After the most recent earthquake
in 1930, the pagoda lay in ruins for twenty years, until unpaid volunteers built the
structure you see today in the early 1950s.
The four staircases leading to the pagoda are flanked by large chinthe with tiny
golden Buddhas in their open mouths; the western staircase leads east to Hintha Gon
Paya (see below) along a covered arcade. Shwemawdaw is the site of a major ten-day
pagoda festival around the Tagu full moon, which falls in March/April each year.

Hintha Gon Paya
• Off Thanat Pin Rd, 500m east of Shwemawdaw Pagoda • Daily 5am–10pm • Free; camera fee K300
Its name meaning “Hamsa Hill”, Hintha Gon Paya was once the only point of land
above sea level around Bago, and the hill is believed to be the place where Buddha
spotted the two hamsa that gave rise to his prophesy about Bago. King Bayinnaung
constructed the complex in 1567, but the current tiered shrine is the creation of the
hermit monk U Khanti, and dates from 1924.
In addition to decent views of the pagoda-stippled surroundings, the main reason
to climb up here is for the chance to witness one of the nat ceremonies for which
Hintha Gon is known. Transvestite natdaws (mediums) energetically channel the
nat to the frenetic accompaniment of a traditional orchestra, purportedly bringing
good luck to worshippers. Several nats are represented here, but foremost among
them is Bago Medaw, a local Mon nat depicted as a woman wearing a buffalo skull.
There are no set times for nat ceremonies, so whether one is taking place at the time
of your visit is down to luck.

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