Uppatasanti Pagoda

Uppatasanti was completed in 2009 in Naypyidaw and built as a copy of the Shwedagon a metre or so shorter, which is a deliberate courtesy rather than a limitation. Unlike the original it is hollow: the interior is a single vast hall with a jade Buddha, murals and a carved ceiling, and it is entered rather than circled. The compound is enormous, the approach roads are twenty lanes wide, and on most days there are more staff than visitors, which is the defining experience of the place.

History

Construction began on 12 November 2006 and was finished in March 2009. The pagoda houses a Buddha tooth relic, and its name, roughly "protection against calamity", is that of a sutra prepared by Tilokaraj, a 15th-century king of Lanna (Wikipedia, Uppatasanti Pagoda).

The main sights

• The stupa - a near-full-size replica of the Shwedagon, gilded and freestanding on a wide terrace.
• The hollow interior - a single hall with a jade Buddha, carved ceiling and painted walls.
• The white elephants - a compound nearby housing the elephants kept as royal auspicious animals.
• The emptiness - a vast terrace and approach roads with almost nobody on them.

When to go

November to February is the cool season, which matters on a terrace with no shade. Early evening is best for the light and the temperature. Crowds are rare at any time except on major religious holidays.

Things to know

It is a modern replica and reads as one, so anyone hoping for the Shwedagon's atmosphere will not find it here. The scale of the empty space around it is either the point or the problem. Getting around Naypyidaw requires a car; nothing is walkable.

Nearby

The white elephant compound is a short drive away, and the national landmarks garden is elsewhere in the city.

Key facts