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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



DETAIL OF CARVING ON AN ENTRANCE TO A CHAPEL 

 A yellow-robed monk in foreground. They wear their robe like the Roman toga 



hang on this hti a chime of bells which 

 may be tinkled by the gentlest breeze ; 

 think of the spire surrounded by scores of 

 shrines of every sort, decorated with mo- 

 saics and richest teak-wood carvings, and 

 then remember that the summit of the 

 great central mass is higher than the top 

 of the cathedral of Saint Paul in London. 

 No words, however, can do justice to 

 Schway Dagon. Guarded by its char- 

 acteristic leogryphs and built upon a 

 mound, with groves of graceful palms., it 



started ages ago as a modest stupa-like 

 mass of brick. It was not allowed by the 

 Burmese to crumble to decay, as is the 

 ordinary pagoda, built today as an act of 

 merit, for nowadays there is little to be 

 gained by repairs. The building is what 

 counts hereafter. But what other pagoda 

 sheltered actual relics not only of Gau- 

 tama, but of three preceding Buddhas? 



Tradition says that men bearing eight 

 hairs from Gautama's beard determined 

 to bury them on this site, where other 



