Page 84 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

82 Yangon and around NortherN YaNgoN
1 Mahapasana Guha
• Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd • Daily 6am–9pm • Free
Built at the same time as the adjacent Kaba Aye Pagoda, the Mahapasana Guha
(“Great Stone Cave”) was constructed to host meetings of the Sixth Buddhist Synod
in 1954, during which 2500 monks descended on the cave to recite the entire
Tripitaka in Pali. The Mahapasana Guha is a modern remake of the Sattapannin
Cave in India, where the First Buddhist Synod was held shortly after the Buddha’s
death. From the outside it resembles a huge rocky hillock; inside, the “cave” is
actually just a huge conference hall, capable of holding up to ten thousand people,
supported on six enormous pillars and with a single small illuminated Buddha
flashing crazily on a shelf at the far end.

Insein

Several of northern Yangon’s most interesting attractions are clustered in the
northern suburb of Insein – home of the city’s notorious Insein Prison – and easily
visited in combination with a partial circumnavigation of the city’s Circle Line
(see box opposite).

Kyauk Daw Kyi Pagoda
• Min Dhamma Rd • Daily 6am–9pm • Free
Insein’s major attraction is the Kyauk Daw Kyi Pagoda (pronounced “Chow daw gee”,
with the final syllable said like the letter “g”), home to the revered Lawka Chantha
Abhaya Labha Muni Buddha, an 11m-high seated Buddha carved from a single gigantic
piece of marble discovered near Mandalay in 1999. The military, always keen to deflect
attention from their repressive regime by spectacular acts of religious merit-making,
commissioned the statue and had the 500-tonne image conveyed with great ceremony
to Yangon by barge and a specially constructed railway track; murals showing the
transfer and arrival of the image can be seen over the two sets of staircases leading
up to the statue, with assorted generals very much to the fore. The image is fine
enough, although not as impressive as others in Yangon, while the glass case it’s
encased in makes it frustratingly difficult to see.
Hsin Hpyu Daw Elephant Park
• Min Dhamma Rd (turn left out of the Kyauk Daw Kyi Pagoda and walk down the road for about 3min; the
park – no sign – is on the opposite side of the road) • Daily 9am–5pm • Free
A companion piece to the nearby Kyauk Daw Kyi Pagoda, and offering further subtle
propaganda on behalf of the ruling military, the Hsin Hpyu Daw Elephant Park is home
to a trio of rare white elephants (plus a normal grey elephant) discovered in Rakhine
State and brought to Yangon in 2001–2. White elephants are traditionally regarded as
a symbol of good fortune and prosperity in Myanmar and the junta has been keen to
collect as many as possible – further specimens can be found at the Uppatasanti
Pagoda in Naypyitaw (see p.186).
InSEIn LANTHIT ROAD Despite the name, white elephants are
arlein nga actually albinos and not really white
L A NT HIT ROAD Sint Pagoda at all, but rather a pale reddish-brown
INSEIN BUTARYON ROAD M IN DHAMMA RD (or pink when wet). Their colour may
be regarded as lucky for their military
N Kyauk daw owners, but has proved less so for the
BAHO ROAD
Insein Kyi Pagoda poor elephants themselves, who now
Station INSEIN ROAD
find themselves miserably chained up
0 500 Hsin for the greater part of every day in a
Hpyu daw
metres Elephant Park small pavilion.

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