Bago - Gheos Worldguide

Bago (ပဲခူးမြို့, Pegu)

Bago, or Pegu, was an important seaport during the Mon dynasty. It was formerly known as Hanthawaddy. It also once was the capital of Lower Myanmar.

In 1757 the Burman destroyed most of Bago, but in the beginning of the 19th century it was partially rebuilt. Later the Bago River changed its course and cut the city off from the sea, making Bago's harbor worthless. As a result Bago never returned to its previous grandeur and importance.

Points of interest

The Bago Moat.
The Bago Sittaung Canal.
The Hintha Gone Pagoda.
The Buddhist Kalyāṇī Ordination Hall is an important pilgrimage site, as it houses the Kalyani Inscriptions, which consists of 10 sandstone pillars inscribed in Pali and Mon in 1480. The inscriptions are considered to be important records of Theravada history of Buddhism. The hall was built in 1476.
The Kanbawzathadi Palace (ကမ္ဘောဇသာဒီ နန်းတော်) was originally built in 1556. It included 76 apartments and halls. The palace burnt down in 1599 and the current building is a reconstruction from 1992. It was rebuilt using knowledge gained from excavations and drawings and it shows how wealthy the 2nd Burmese empire was. Inside the palace, you can see replicas of the originasl furniture and other items.
The Kyaik Pun Pagoda (ကျိုက်ပွန်ဘုရား) home to the Four Seated Buddha shrine. The statue is 27 m (89 ft) tall and depicts the 4 Buddhas of Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa and Gautama. According to tradition, the pagoda was built in the 7th century. It was renovated by King Dhammazedi in the 15th century.
Lake-pyar-kan (Butterfly Lake).
The Mahazedi Pagoda (မဟာစေတီ) is an important Buddhist pagoda. It was completed in 1561, but it was destroyed by earthquakes in 1564, 1583 and 1888, but subsequently rebuilt every time. An earthquake in 1930, completely leveled the pagoda. It was rebuilt in the 1950s.
There is a bustling Market in Bago.
The Mazin Dam.
The Shwegugale Pagoda.
The Shwegugyi Pagoda.
Bago is dominated by the Buddhist Shwemawdaw Pagoda (ရွှေမောဓော စေတီတော်) is 125 m (410 ft) high, making it the tallest stupa in the world.
The Shwethalyaung Temple (ရွှေသာလျှောင်းဘုရား) houses a 55 m (180 ft) long, reclining statue of Buddha. The name Shwethalyaung means 'Golden Image of the Sleeping Buddha'. It is thought that the temple was built in 994. It later fell into disrepair. In 1881, the temple was rediscovered and renovated.
The Snake Monastery.

There are several hotels and restaurants in Bago. The city is 91 km (57 mi) northeast of Yangon (Rangoon).

Images

Bago temples ©Ed Brambley
Bago temples ©Ed Brambley