The building stands on two terraces, the lower one about 10 ft. high, and 1391 ft. square; the upper one, 20 ft. in height, and 684 ft. square; from the centre rises the pagoda, the diameter of whose base is 395 ft. The small pagodas are 27 ft. high, and 108 or 110 in number; while the great pagoda itself rises to the height of 331 ft. above its terrace, or 361 ft. above the country, thus reaching a height about equal to that of St. Paul’s Cathedral: while the side of the upper terrace is only 83 ft. less than that of the great Pyramid.
Tradition ascribes its commencement to two merchants, who raised it to the height of 12 cubits, at an age slightly subsequent to that of Buddha himself. Successive kings of Pegu added to it from time to time, till at last it assumed its present form, most probably about three or four centuries ago.
The next in importance, so far as we know, is the more generally known Shoëdagong pagoda at Rangûn, a building very similar in dimensions to the last named, and by no means unlike it, except that the outline of the base is cut up to even a greater extent, and the spire more attenuated—both signs of a comparatively modern date. The base is even more crowded by little temples than that at Pegu, and its whole height is somewhat less. There is, however, no essential difference between the two buildings, and this is principally interesting as leading us one step further in the series from the solid hemispherical mound to the thin spire, which, both in Burmah and Siam, is the modern form usually assumed by these edifices, till they lose all but a traditional resemblance to the buildings from which they originally sprang.
The general appearance of their spires may be gathered from the three shown on the left of the annexed woodcut (No. [353]), which is precisely that of the Great Pagoda. This illustration is also valuable as showing the last lineal descendant of these great human-headed winged lions that once adorned the portals of the palaces at Nineveh; but after nearly 3000 years of wandering and ill-treatment have degenerated into these wretched caricatures of their former selves.
The Shoëdagong pagoda, like all the more important ones, is fabled to have been commenced about 2300 years ago, or about the era of Buddha himself; its sanctity, however, is owing to its containing relics, not only of the last Buddha, but also of his three predecessors—Buddha having vouchsafed eight hairs of his head to its two founders, on the understanding that they were to be enshrined with the relics of the three former Buddhas, where and when found.[580] After numerous miraculous indications, on this spot were discovered the staff of Kakusanda, believed to have lived some 3000 years before Christ, the water-dipper of Konagamma, and the bathing garment of Kasyapa, which, with the eight hairs above mentioned, are enshrined within this great pagoda.[581] Originally, however, notwithstanding the value of its deposit, the building was small, and it is probably not more than a century since it assumed its present form.
353. View of Pagoda in Rangûn. (From a Photograph.)
A crowd of smaller pagodas surrounds the larger one, of all sizes, from 30 ft. to 200 ft. in height, and even more. There is scarcely a village in the country that does not possess one or two, and in all the more important towns they are numbered by hundreds; indeed, they may almost be said to be innumerable. They are almost all quite modern, and so much alike as not to merit any distinct or separate mention. They indicate, however, a great degree of progressive wealth and power in the nation, from the earliest times to the present day, and an increasing prevalence of the Buddhistical system. This is a direct contrast to the history of Ceylon, whose glory was greatest in the earliest centuries of the Christian Era, and was losing its purity at the time when the architectural history of Burmah first dawns upon us. Thus the buildings of one country supplement those of the other, and present together a series of examples of the same class, ranging over more than 2000 years, if we reckon from the oldest topes in Ceylon to the most modern in Burmah.
At a place called Mengûn, about half-way between the former capital of Amîrapura and the present one at Mandalé, are two pagodas, which are not without considerable interest for our present purposes; if for no other reason, at least for this—that both were erected within the limits of the present century, and show that neither the forms nor aspirations of the art were wholly extinguished even in our day. The first is circular in form, and was erected in the year 1816, in the reign of a king of Burmah called Bodo Piyah, who is also the author of the second. As will be seen from the woodcut (No. [354]), it is practically a dagoba, with five concentric procession-paths. Each of these is ornamented by a curious serpent-like balustrade, interspersed with niches containing, or intended to contain, statues of Buddha, and is accessible by four flights of steps facing the four cardinal points. The whole is surrounded by a low circular wall, 750 ft. in diameter, said to represent the serpent Ananta. Within this is a basement, measuring about 400 ft. across, and this, with the procession-paths and dagoba on the summit, make up seven storeys, intended, it is said, to symbolise the mythical Mount Meru.[582]