An Active Astrological Heritage at Schwedagon Pagoda

This is our entry in The Daily Post Photo Challenge: Heritage.

In February 2017, we visited the Schwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar. Shwedagon Pagoda contains relics of the four most recent Buddhas, which makes this pagoda the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar. Around the base of the pagoda are eight planetary posts at the eight compass directions, one for each day of the week. (Wednesday is divided into two days.)  At each planetary post are a large basin of water and three statues: a white marble Buddha, a guardian behind the Buddha, and an animal  in front associated with that post’s day of the week. The picture shows Tuesday’s post, with its lion statue in front. A visitor wishing to perform the ritual first finds the post matching his or her birth day (of the week) and begins with a prayer, followed by pouring three cups of water each over the Buddha, guardian, and animal, in turn.

Planetary Post

This photo was taken on February 7, 2017. Specs are:

Olympus TG-4, ISO 100, f/4.2, 1/80 sec, 13.5 mm