Thousands mark Buddha's birthday at Myanmar's Shwedagon pagoda

AFP | Yangon, Myanmar

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Thousands of Buddhist devotees gathered at Myanmar's Shwedagon pagoda yesterday to mark the Buddha's birthday and to water a sacred Bodhi tree believed to be linked to his enlightenment.

Crowds shuffled up a roofed stairway crammed with stalls selling flowers, candles and incense to reach the hilltop complex that dominates the skyline of commercial hub Yangon.

Reaching a giant marble platform dotted with smaller shrines, families split off and headed to different parts of the complex to make their offerings.

Towering over them was the main, gold-plated spire of the Shwedagon pagoda that rises 99 metres (325 feet) into the sky and is believed to house four relics of the Buddha.