Nga Htat Kyi (seated Buddha) Pagoda

Following on from my reclining buddha visit, I walked up the road to Nga Htat Kyi pagoda.  This pagoda is described as the 'five storey' pagoda - but the main Buddha inside is 'only' 9 metres tall. The pagoda starts with another impressive entrance, and a covered walkway that again takes the visitor up the hill to the cooler air on the small hilltop.

entrance to Nga Htat Kyee Pagoda

While not quite as big as the reclining Buddha, this one was still pretty impressive despite undergoing obvious repairs and upgrades. This Buddha has an elaborate headpiece, chest plate and gold embellishments on its back which made it quite striking.

elaborate Buddha

For whatever reasons I found this pagoda had a relaxed and calming vibe about it. Perhaps because it wasn't quite as big as the other one, maybe because there weren't so many people around, or maybe it was because the pagoda views looked out on the nearby monastery which had a lot of greenery amidst other pretty buildings.

view out of the pagoda

There were also lots of interesting side details in the pagoda. There was a bit less of the blingy flashy lights (although they were still present). There was this somewhat bizarre but interesting picture that turned 3D - presumably telling of some kind of Buddha journey involving a snake?

Buddha journey?

Since visiting a number of Buddhist pagodas I'm also learning about the 8 Burmese 'planetary posts'. These 'planets' are the days of the week starting with Sunday, except that Wednesday is split in two (Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon). Small shrines for each of the planets are positioned around the main Buddha and worshippers go to their particular planet to pour some water over their planet figure as part of their religious worship.

pretty Monday station

In this pagoda, Monday was located at the back of the main Buddha, but was framed by a pretty gold lattice.

Thursday planet station

People identify with their planet based on which day they were born. Each planet is associated with an animal. My day is Thursday - the Thursday animal is a rat.