Pagoda

“ I am indeed in one place, for my uncle took me to this temple when I was a boy, and in this I shall doubtless die. But if a man remain in one place he shall see that the place changes. The pagoda of my temple stands up silently out of all the trees, like a yellow pagoda above many green pagodas. ”

“ When lighted up by the rays of the sun it all becomes one mass of brilliancy; the enamelled colors of flaming earthenware, the coating of thousands of polished roses standing out in the alabaster, give to this pagoda, with its pure and brilliant architecture unknown under any other sky, the magical effect of a dream with the colossal signs of reality. ”

“ But while the pagoda itself impresses one with its massive proportions, it is the exquisite group of numberless little shrines or temples which surround the pagoda, every one of which holds one or more large images of the great Buddha, that furnish the rich sense of beauty and charm which prevail. ”

“ It is impossible to describe the many objects of interest on this immense platform. Four chapels at the foot of the pagoda are guarded by colossal figures of the sitting Buddha, and in the farthest recess, in a niche, is a small Buddha, the gilding of which is discolored by the smoke from many thousands of tapers and candles.
On each side of the pagoda are chapels with tapering roofs and upturned eaves, and within them are seated images of the Buddha covered with gold. These attract large numbers of worshippers, and with the myriad waxen tapers produce an impressive effect. ”

“ It is therefore so holy that pilgrims visit this shrine from far countries, such as Siam, and even the Corea. The height of the pagoda was originally only twenty-seven feet, but it has attained its present proportions by being constantly encased in bricks. It is a marvellously striking structure, raising up its delicate, glittering head from among a wondrous company of profusely carved shrines and small temples, whose colour and cunning workmanship make fit attendants to this stupendous monument. ”

“ The Pagoda is a colossal structure, with a broad base like a pyramid, though round in shape, sloping upwards to a slender cone, which tapers at last to a sort of spire over three hundred feet high, and as the whole, from base to pinnacle, is covered with gold leaf, it presents a very dazzling appearance, when it reflects the rays of the sun. ”

“ I would say go and gaze on the pagoda at the awakening hour, standing there on the last spur of the Pegu Hills, and framed by a luxuriant tropical bower of foliage. The light scintillates and glistens like a myriad of diamonds upon its golden surface, and the dreamy beauty of its glorious personality seems to strike one dumb with deep, unspoken reverence and admiration. ”

“ The dark and frowning pagoda, rising abruptly from a ridge of sand, forms a conspicuous object from the sea, its huge shapeless mass not unlike some ill-proportioned giant, affording a gloomy type of the hideous superstitions of the land. ”

“ Pagoda, pa-gō′da, n. an idol-house: an Indian idol: its temple: a gold coin formerly current in India, so called because the figure of a pagoda was stamped upon it—also Pagode′.—n. Pagō′dite, the mineral which the Chinese carve into figures of pagodas, &c. ”

“ Like all the monuments of this kind, the pagoda resembles a pile of dessert dishes placed one on the other, but the dishes are of graceful form, and if they are in Chinese porcelain it is not astonishing.
We get an outside view of a cannon foundry, a rifle factory, the workmen being natives. Through a fine garden we reach the governor’s house, with a capricious assemblage of bridges, kiosks, fountains and doors like vases. There are more pavilions and upturned roofs than there are trees and shady walks. ”

“ At last she made a pilgrimage to a pagoda where folks said was a parah who would give anything that was asked of him. Bright and early she set out, and on her head as an offering she carried an image of a tiger and one of a man, and when she arrived at the pagoda she offered the images and prayed for a son.
While she was praying at the pagoda, Lord Sa Kyah heard her, took pity on her, and promised her a son. But, alas! when he was born, to his mother's great sorrow, instead of being the beautiful boy she hoped for he was nothing but a frog. ”

“ Approached by a long flight of steps, fringed on either side by rows of stalls where cheroots, toys, candles, and many varieties of miscellaneous goods, are offered for sale, the Pagoda attracts pilgrims and worshippers from all parts of the Province and sigh-seers from distant lands. Any day, one may see pious men and women telling their beads and murmuring their aspirations, acknowledging the misery of this transitory life, burning candles before holy images. ”

“ There are probably as many pagodas in East India and China as there are churches in our own country. A pagoda is a temple containing idols or statues of gods which the people worship. We climbed the endless stairway up into the great Shwe Dagón in company with hundreds of natives carrying their shoes in their hands. ”

“ On the days of worship, particularly during the three months of Lent, the crowd of people of every age, sex, and condition, resorting to the most venerated pagoda of the place, is truly extraordinary. Men and women of a certain age have in their hands a string of beads, upon which they repeat the formula Aneitsa, Duka, Anatta, or some other. ”

“ It is the time of praying, and all the women with their candles and their
incense are bending knees and chanting prayers to Kwan-yin for the
blessing of a son. There is a pilgrimage to the Kwem-li Pagoda. I can
see it in the distance, with its lotus bells that sway and ring with each
light breath of wind. One does not think of it as a thing of brick and
mortar, or as a many-storied temple, but as a casket whose jewels
are the prayers of waiting, hoping women. ”

“ Viewed from the famous Five-Story Pagoda, on a high part of the old city wall, it is a swarming hive of humanity. As one looks out on those myriads of toiling, struggling, sorrowing men and women, he is conscious of a new sense of the pathos and the tragedy of human life. ”

“ This is the object of an elaborate ceremony performed on the afternoon of the day when the top-knot has been cut. A miniature pagoda is erected, and on it are placed several kinds of food known to be favourites of the spirit. When the kwun has arrived and is feasting on these dainties, he is caught and held fast under a cloth thrown over the food. The child is now placed near the pagoda, and all the family and friends form a circle, with the child, the captured spirit, and the Brahman priests in the middle. ”

“ There are several quaint frescoes of Buddha and saints depicted upon the ceiling of these roofs, but the steps which they cover are very rugged and irregular. It is, indeed, a pilgrimage to ascend them, although the foreigner is allowed to retain his shoes. The faithful, of course, leave theirs at the foot of the steps.
The entrance to the pagoda inspires one with a maze of conflicting emotions as one stands before it; joy, sorrow, pity, wonder, admiration follow so quickly upon each other that they mingle into an indescribable sense of bewilderment. ”

“ The pagoda platform is always full of people kneeling, saying over and over the great precepts of their faith, trying to bring into their hearts the meaning of the teaching of him of whom this wonderful pagoda represents the tomb. There are always monks there passing to and fro, or standing leaning on the pillars of the shrines; there are always a crowd of people climbing up and down the long steps that lead from the road below. It is a place I always go to when I am in Rangoon; for, besides its beauty, there are the people ”

“ This tongue, made of heavy beams bolted together in a mass, is equal to about half the weight of the whole structure. It descends nearly to the base of the pagoda, and at the shock of an earthquake the large pendulum slowly swings, the structure sways, and settles back safely to its base.
In a tall sheathed bell-tower near the pagoda there is a most interesting shrine where parents hang the garments of sick and dying children. ”

“ More loosely “pagoda” is used in the East to signify any non-Christian or non-Mussulman place of worship. Pagoda or pagod was also the name given to a gold (occasionally also silver) coin, of about the value of seven shillings, at one time current in southern India. From this meaning is derived the expression “the pagoda tree,” as synonymous with the “wealth of the Indies,” whence the phrase to “shake the pagoda tree.” There is a real tree, the Plumieria acuminata, bearing the name. It grows in India, and is of a small and graceful shape, and bears yellow and white flowers tinged with red. ”

“ Signs of the extent to which religion forms part of everyday life strike the most casual observer. [Pg 194] The country is full of pagodas, monasteries, theins, [185] images of the Buddha, zayats. Pagodas vary in size from the stately Shwe Dagôn to the humble fane on the outskirts of a village. It may be worth while to explain that a pagoda is not a temple in which worshippers pay their devotions. It is a solid structure, often built over sacred relics, of varying type, the most prevalent being that of the great pagoda at Rangoon. Some pagodas are richly gilded, others merely whitewashed. ”

“ One night they walked while the moon rose and poured a great burden of glory over the garden until it seemed fairyland with Amory and Eleanor, dim phantasmal shapes, expressing eternal beauty in curious elfin love moods. Then they turned out of the moonlight into the trellised darkness of a vine-hung pagoda, where there were scents so plaintive as to be nearly musical. ”

“ And will you not then hear my song?
This for prelude.
III
You, O Mandalay, I sing!
For I see the pagoda, the Moulmein and essentially wotto pagoda,
[25] And the pagoda is above the trees,
But the trees are below the pagoda.
IV
I see the flying-fish sitting on the branches, I hear them sing, and they fly and mate and build their nests in the branches ”

“ The Pagoda is in the custody of trustees who receive the offerings of the faithful and ensure the maintenance in good order of the shrine and its precincts. In too close proximity is an arsenal.
On the border of the city, approximately on the site of King Tharrawaddy's myo, lies the cantonment, a wide expanse, including the pagoda, where there are barracks, parade grounds, residences of military and civil officers. Formerly open and picturesque, it is gradually becoming crowded with houses. Presently it will be removed to a distance and the space will be given up to the expansion of the town. ”

“ As regards the coins, it has been supposed, naturally enough, that they were called pagoda, because of the figure of a temple which some of them bear; and which indeed was borne by the pagodas of the Madras Mint, as may be seen in Thomas's Prinsep, pl. xlv. But in fact coins with this impress were first struck at Ikkeri at a date after the word pagode was already in use among the Portuguese. However, nearly all bore on one side a rude representation of a Hindu deity (see e.g. Kṛishṇarāja's pagoda, c. 1520) , and sometimes two such images. ”

“ The pagodas are the ordinary resorts of the people as places of worship; not all of them, however, for the great majority are merely erected as works of merit, and never attain any celebrity as places of worship; only the chief and most notable shrines. There the people assemble of an evening, and are to be seen in the flagged open space around the pagoda, on their knees in the open air, repeating their devotions in Pali. Though many of them come together, it is not of the nature of congregational worship, nor is any one appointed to lead their devotions. ”

“ He wandered on, after watching the carnival, on his way to the station; but seeing the splendid pagoda on Malabar Hill, he thought he would like to go in. He was quite unaware of two things: first, that certain pagodas are closed to all Christians, and even the believers can only obtain admittance by leaving their shoes or slippers at the doors of the temple. ”

“ This was indeed a fortunate discovery, for, knowing that most of the pagodas were untenanted, they might hide there; and with lightened hearts they walked onward, till they came to a valley, or cemetery, filled with tombs, and through which they walked till they came to the base of a hill, at the top of which was the entrance to the pagoda. ”

“ On the left side of this chapel is a doorway 6 palms in depth and 5 in width, by which one enters a chamber which is nearly square and very dark, so that there is nothing to be seen there; and with this ends the fabric of this great pagoda. It has been in many parts demolished; and what the soldiers have left is so maltreated that it is grievous to see destroyed in such fashion one of the Wonders of the World. It is now 50 years since I went to see this marvellous Pagoda ”

“ Architecturally the pagoda, in general, may be described as having a spire, massive throughout, rising from a circular, square, or octagonal base, in a succession of tiers or circles, of which the upper is always narrower than the one beneath it. ”

“ We go to the pagoda and climb slowly up the steps, for they are high and steep, and at every flight there are exquisite views out over the jungle of trees, palms, and bamboo, and knolly "Argyll hills," and looking up or down the stairs are more pictures; on both sides are double rows of red and gold pillars, supporting an elaborately panelled teak roof, with carvings in teak picked out with gold and colour. Groups of people with sweet expressions, [Pg 261] priests, men, women, and children pass up and down. ”