Pyay (Prome)

Pyay is situated on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River on a lovely location. Pyay was anglicized as Prome after the Second Anglo-Myanmar war and in ancient times was known as Thaye-khittra (Srikshetra). Srikshetra, the ancient Pyu capital about five miles to the east, is interesting place to visit because of their historical importance and archaeological sites. Pyay is an important commercial center for trade between the Ayeyarwady Delta, Central and Upper Myanmar and the Rakhine (Arakan) State. Visitors to Pyay should visit Hpo Oo Taung, the Shwe San Daw Pagoda, which is like the Shwe Dagon in Yangon, is on a hill, enshrining hair relics of the Buddha and the Baw Baw Gyi Pagoda.Pyay is located about 285km north of Yangon, on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River. It is easily accessible by road or by rail which takes about 5 hours across the countryside. Tour Highlight is Shwesandaw Pagoda, Hsehtakyi Pagoda, Shwe Phone Pwint Museum, Bawbawgyi Pagoda, Begegyi Pagoda, Payagyi and Payama Stupas are other places of interest in and around Pyay. Pyay (Prome) is only 161 km north of Yangon traveling along a well-maintained highway by car. Several trains run daily from Yangon on the first railway line built in Myanmar in 1877. In the last few years the railway branch lines have been extended north towards Bagan. Visitors can stop over in Pyay and travel on to Bagan and Mandalay.

Shwe San Daw Pagoda

It is located on a hillock and the landmark of downtown Pyay. About the same time that the pagoda on Hpo Oo Taung hill was built, the celestials of the hill built another pagoda. It must be built on the hill overlooking the site where Srikshetra was to be. Today " Shwe-san-daw" Pagoda ("The Sacred Hair Relic Shrine") as it is called, is one of the holiest pagodas for the Myanmar Buddhists. The Hti (Glorious Crown), the gold gilded iron framework on top, is richly embedded with jewels. Clos e by the hill on which Shwe San Daw Pagoda is a colossal seated Buddha statue recently renovated. It is most proportionate and is very adorable.

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Shwe Nat Taung Pagoda

Nine miles south of Pyay along the river is a small town, Shwe Taung, named after the hill overlooking the town. It is well known for hand-woven silk textiles and Shwe Nat Taung Pagoda on the hill. It stands on the Yangon-Pyay motor road. Shwe Nat Taung pagoda was built about the same time as the Shwe San Daw and Hpo Oo Taung Pagodas; just after the Buddha prophesied the future glory of Srikshetra city. The people worshipped the hill, called the Golden Hill (Shwe Taung), believing that a great spirit was there. The Buddha gave them hair relics on His visit to the hill while they were propitiating the spirit. They built a pagoda to enshrine the hair relics, and named it Shwe Nat Taung after the hill on which it was built.

Hpo Oo Taung

Hpo Oo Taung stands on the western bank of the Ayeyarwady River and is 900 feet above sea level. There is an ancient pagoda supposed to have been built by celestial beings. The pagoda is called Hpo Oo Taung pagoda, after the hill on which it stands. The Buddha once sojourned on Hpo Oo Taung. The spirits and celestials on the hill were filled with adoration at being in the presence of the Compassionate Buddha. One day, the Buddha stood on the hill facing the river and pointed to the place where Pyay stands today and prophesied that there would arise a prosperous city called Srikshetra where His teachings would flourish. So, the celestials built a pagoda on the hill. The Buddha gave them the hair relics to be enshrined therein. During the glorious days of the Bagan kingdom (11th century), it was a centre of religious activity.

Baw-Baw-Gyi Pagoda

The Baw-baw-gyi assumes a cylindrical shape above five low circular terraces of which two are buried under the debris. It has a conical top surmounted by a modern Hit (glori ous crown). This type is apparently evolved from the hemispherical stupas like the Sanchi and Amaravati types in India. The Baw-baw-gyi is not entirely solid as might be suggested by its exterior view. The cylindrical body is hollow up to about two-thirds of its height and has one opening at the base and another aperture high up in the opposite wall.

Shwe Myatman Pagoda

What is surprising is a bespectacled Buddha image with gold-rimmed spectacles, sitting there in Yun-dai (Lacquer ware row) quarter in Shwe Taung. Shwe Taung is a district town in the Bago division. If you motor down South from Pyay some six or seven miles, you'd get to Shwe Taung town. How come Buddha with gold-rimmed glasses? You wonder. The bespectacled Buddha image, sits cross-legged on a throne of sorts. Quite a colossus! King Dut-ta-buang, the founder of Thare-khittra built this Buddha image - without spectacles, of course; later it so happened that the king lost his eyesight; on the advice of his royal astrologers he set 'glasses' to the eyes of the image, some time after which he regained his eyesight; later, however, the Buddha image was deprived of its gold-rimmed spectacles by some unscrupulous burglars; so that in AD 1885 the year the British occupied the whole of Myanmar when King Thibaw, the last king of Kone-baung dynasty, donated a second pair of gold-rimmed spectacles, but to safeguard it from being stolen, it was enshrined along with the relics. The third pair of spectacles deteriorated or got damaged and has since been renovated or repaired by Daw Se` and family of Tha-yet-taw Quarter, Shwe Taung.