Reuters-FEATURE-Treasure piles up a

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Subject: Reuters-FEATURE-Treasure piles up at Yangon's golden heart 

FEATURE-Treasure piles up at Yangon's golden heart
08:22 p.m Mar 20, 1999 Eastern
By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON, March 21 (Reuters) - The Shwedagon Pagoda, heart and soul of
devoutly Buddhist Myanmar and one of the forgotten wonders of the world, is
getting a facelift that will pile another ton of gold onto its glittering
central stupa.

The breathtaking 2,500-year-old pagoda is already decorated with 2.3 tons of
gold and encrusted with over 5,000 diamonds, 2,000 rubies as well as
sapphires and other precious stones.

Now, as part of the first major renovation work in more than a century,
another 9,000 gold plates weighing nearly a ton are being added to the
central stupa and repairs made to the sacred umbrella, or ``Htidaw,'' that
crowns it.

The work is due to be completed at the end of March.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

Over the ages, the great and the good have donated to the pagoda to improve
their chances of attaining the highest goal of the Buddhist faith -- the
state of Nirvana.

Among them have been monarchs like 15th century Queen Shinsawbu of
Hanthawaddi, who donated her weight in gold, and her successor, King
Dhammazedi, who gave four times his.

Myanmar's military rulers are simply following the tradition.

The committee responsible for the renovation was formed under the patronage
of the head of military intelligence, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, who is
considered the most powerful of the country's generals.

Ko Hla Win, a welder at the renovation site, cannot believe the good fortune
that has allowed him to participate.

``It's more than the chance of a lifetime, but of many,'' he said. ``It's
the sort of golden opportunity someone gets during the cycle of rebirths
only if he is very fortunate.''

``Contributions, whether in cash or kind or service and in whatever amounts
to such a sacred pagoda will help us be reborn into peaceful high-class
lives and will certainly be conducive to attaining of our final goal --
Nirvana.''

According to legend, the pagoda was built to enshrine eight hairs of the
last Buddha, Gautama, and relics of three Buddhas said to have preceded him.

The bell-shaped central stupa, measuring nearly 100 metres (326 feet) high
and with a base circumference of 433 metres (1,421 feet), is plated with

more than 23,000 solid gold slabs.

It has thrilled generations of travellers.

``The Shwedagon rose superb, glistening with its gold, like a sudden hope in
the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write, glistening against
the fog and smoke of the thriving city,'' W. Somerset Maugham wrote in his
1930 book ``The Gentlemen in the Parlour.''

PRIDE AND MYSTICISM

``I never miss the Shwedagon each time I come here,'' said a European
tourist on his sixth visit to Myanmar.

For locals, it is a source of both pride and mysticism.

``It is more than an ordinary religious site for us,'' said Tha Tun Maung, a
lecturer from the Archaeology Department of Yangon University. ``It is the
best possible showroom, exhibiting our material richness and the high
standard of our culture.''

For Maung Maung, a government employee turned entrepreneur, it is where he
turns in times of both sorrow and happiness.

``It was to the Shwedagon I went first to bury my sorrow and pray for my
mother when I heard she had died of a heart attack over 20 years ago,'' he
said.

``And about 15 years ago, when I was told I had been appointed to my
previous job, I went there to say prayers.''

The most important renovation work has been on the ``Htidaw,'' which was
donated by King Mindon in 1871.

Its has undergone three previous repairs in 1919, 1930 and 1970, but now
needs extensive work to due the ravages of weather and old age.

Regular renovation work, normally carried out every four years, has involved
rebuilding of stairways and reguilding.

Thousands of people, from the very rich to the humble, have made donations
ranging from one-kyat notes to gold bars weighing a kilogram.

Singapore's Golden Pagoda Temple donated 132 gold bells and a gold bowl
weighing more than six kg (13 lb) and individuals have contributed 43,275
items of jewellery.

Housewife Ma Hla Hla was ``overwhelmed by generosity and reverence'' when
she heard about the renovation appeal.

``So I took off all the jewellery I had on and donated it,'' she said,
adding that she gave her diamond earrings, gold necklace and a ruby ring.