1. Shwedagon Pagoda – Golden Pagoda
It would be a big mistake if tourists to Myanmar fail to visit the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda, or more famous with the name Golden Pagoda. Aged over 2,500 years old, the pagoda is situated in the Land of Gold of Yangon that has been the most sacred and impressive site for Buddhist believers in Myanmar.
It’s hard to believe but it is true that this enormous construction of 432.8 meters in perimeter and approximately 100 meters high, is totally glittered with gold while the top of the stupa is encrusted with 4531 diamonds.
Shwedagon Pagoda is nothing less than a state-of-the-art heritage of the world in term of not only architecture but also culture and arts. The site is also a complex of colorful temples, stupas, and statues that reflects the architectural era dated back to 2,500 year and even more, where frequent religious activities of monks and Buddhist believers are held every day.
2. Kyaiktiyo Pagoda – The Golden Rock
Golden Rock is undoubtedly amongst the most remarkable places to visit in Yangon, Myanmar. With just few hours travel by bus to the East of the city, you may have chance to contemplate the unbelievable scene of a 25 feet high and 50 feet around gold-leaf covered boulder dragging off dangerously on the edge of a cliff.
Legend has it that the boulder is balancing in the hair of Buddha, which was given to a Buddhist hermit. The hermit was in turn gifted a boulder shaped like his own head and built a small Stupa on its top and used magical power to pull the boulder on the cliff from the ocean, to enshrine the Buddha’s hair for all eternity and pilgrims have flocked to the site ever since.
Legend is still a legend, no one knows whether the worship keeps the boulder from rolling down, Golden Rock is still one of the most attractive site visited by thousands of pilgrim every years.
3. Snake Pagoda
It would takes you months to visit all the pagodas in Myanmar but probably the weirdest one, and the most special pagoda is Snake Pagoda, or called by its official name Yadana Labamuni Hsu-taungpye Paya in Myanmar.
In 1974, three large pythons came to the pagoda and wrapped around a statue of Buddha. Although the monks of the pagodas dutifully carried them back to the jungles, no matter how many times they did so, the pythons would come back. Eventually, the monks regarded those snakes as holy, possibly reincarnated souls of monks who used to tend the pagoda and take care of them faithfully.
Since then, the snakes live happily with monks of the pagoda and visitors that there have never seen anyone got injured by them. Nowadays, although the original pythons have died, tourists may still contemplate it in a taxidermied form, and people from different areas keep donating new ones and all of them are as naive as the former ones.
Besides, the architecture of the pagoda’s interior and breathtaking landscapes of the surrounding areas are all good reasons for pilgrims to visit Snake Pagoda.
4. Ngaphechaung Monastery – Jumping Cat Pagoda
Located on the poetic streams of Inle Lake, on the way to Phaung Daw Pagoda, Ngaphechaung Monastery is among the oldest and biggest monastery in Inle Lake area which was erected during 1850s.
The monastery is an incredible construction of teak wood built on stilts which is famous for a collection of shinning Buddha statues and ancient Buddha images from different areas of Myanmar that are really worth seeing.
Ngaphechaung Monastery is well-known with the name “Jumping Cat Pagoda” thanks to a large number of cats raised and trained by the monks to jump through hoops and play freely with visitors. Someone even compare the monastery with a small circus where main and only actors are adorable cats.
