TO THE COURT OF AYA. 
55 
tish invasion. These are all of the same form, a 
form which has been aptly compared to a speak¬ 
ing trumpet standing on its base. The lower part 
of a temple, or Sidi, is commonly a polygon; and 
the shaft, or upper portion, is round,—the apex 
being ornamented with an iron net, in form of an 
umbrella, called, as I have more than once stated 
before, a “ Ti.” The building is of solid brick 
and mortar, with the exception of the small 
chambers, in which are deposited the relics of Gau¬ 
tama, most commonly consisting of little images 
of this personage, of gold or silver, deposited by 
the founders. 
The great temple, or Shwe Dagong, is of the 
same structure with the rest, but richly gilt all 
over. The height of this, which is really a noble 
object, is said to be one hundred and seventy-five 
cubits, or about two hundred and seventy-eight 
feet. In the enclosure which surrounds it is an 
immense bell of very rude fabric : the inscrip¬ 
tion upon it imports that it was cast by the late 
King forty-one years before our visit. 
The Shwe Dagong Pagoda has long enjoyed a 
higher reputation than any other religious edifice 
in the Bur man dominions : this it owes to the 
legend which supposes it to contain “ eight true 
hairs of Gautama,” brought as a trophy from 
Western India, many centuries ago, by two mer¬ 
chant brothers. The Pagoda is in fact, what is 
not common with religious edifices in Ava, a 
