Sule Pagoda – A Factor to Perfect Exploration in Yangon City

» About Sule Pagoda

As only a small pagoda located in the city center, the Sule Pagoda in Yangon City is still a highlight for a travel to Burma. This Buddha pagoda (in Burmese: Kyaik Athok Zedi) is surrounded by busy streets, a market and colonial buildings like the Supreme court building and Yangon City Hall.

Sule Pagoda in Yangon

Legendarily, the pagoda was built in the lifetime of the Gautama Buddha, about 2500 years ago. In the past, the pagoda was much smaller. After renovated and enlarged several times by later Kings, especially when it was renovated halfway the 15th century, the Sule Pagoda reached the current height.

» Is Sule Pagoda Important to Yangon?

The Sule Pagoda is located in the center of downtown Yangon and becomes a part of the city’s economic, public life and Yangon Tours. During the 1988 and 2007 protests, it functioned as a meeting point for anti-government and pro-democracy protesters.

» Sule Pagoda Was Named after the Sule Nat

The Sule Pagoda is named after Sularata, the Sule Nat (spirit) living at the location where the pagoda now stands. According to legend Sularata, a Nat millions of years old found the place where the Buddha’s relics of the three reincarnations were buried, and the location where the Shwedagon pagoda was to be build 2,500 years ago. Nat spirits have been worshipped for centuries in Myanmar without the arrival of Buddhism at that time.

Sule Pagoda is named after Sularata

» Role of Sule Pagoda in Burmese Politics

During the 8888 Uprising, the pagoda was used as an organizing point and destination selected on the basis of its location and symbolic meaning.

In 2007, during the Saffron Revolution, Sule Pagoda was again used as the rallying point for the pro-democracy demonstrations. At that time, thousands of monks gathered to pray around the pagoda.

Role of Sule Pagoda in the Past Was Much Bigger than Its Current Size

Unfortunately, in both 1988 and 2007, the Sule Pagoda become the first place witnessing the brutal reaction by the Burmese government against the protesters.

» How to Get to the Sule Pagoda

Located in Yangon center about halfway between the central railway station and the Yangon river, the Sule Pagoda, one of what to see in Yangon in a pagoda travel here, can be reached by taxi or many other public vehicles in the city. You can require the driver to take you to the center of a roundabout on the junction of Sule road and Maha Bandula road.

If you Stay in Yangon, Visiting the Sule Pagoda Is Easy

» Entrance Fee & Opening Hours of Sule Pagoda

Sule Pagoda opens daily 6.00-22.00 and requires about 3$/pax. Before getting in, you have to put your shoes on the shelves near the entrance. If you wish, you can hire a guide to explain about the pagoda’s history and Buddhist belief and rituals with a cost of about 5-10$, depending on bargaining efforts.