| Uppātasanti Pagoda Burmese: ဥပ္ပါတသန္တိစေတီတော် | |
| Map Type: | Burma |
| Location: | Naypyidaw |
| Coordinates: | 19.7712°N 96.183°W |
| Religious Affiliation: | Buddhism |
| Sect: | Theravada Buddhism |
| Country: | Myanmar |
| Founded By: | State Peace and Development Council |
| Year Completed: | March 2009 |
Uppātasanti Pagoda (Burmese: ဥပ္ပါတသန္တိစေတီတော်, pronounced in Burmese pronounced as /ʔoʊʔpàta̰ θàɰ̃dḭ zèdìdɔ̀/; officially called Burmese: ဥပ္ပါတသန္တိစေတီတော်မြတ်ကြီး, also called the "Peace Pagoda") is a prominent landmark in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar. The pagoda houses a Buddha tooth relic.[1] It is nearly a same-sized replica of Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon and stands 99m (325feet) tall.[2]
Construction of Uppatasanti Pagoda began on 12 November 2006, with the stake-driving ceremony, and completed in March 2009, built under the guidance of Than Shwe, head of Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council.[2] The invitation card for the stake-driving ceremony opened with a phrase " Naypyidaw" (the royal capital).[3] The pagoda is shorter than the Shwedagon Pagoda.[4] The name "" roughly translates to "protection against calamity". It is the name of a sutta prepared by a monk in the early 16th century. It is to be recited in time of crisis, especially in the face of foreign invasion.[5]
On 4 March 2009, 20 people died during a ferris wheel accident at a festival marking the pagoda's consecration.[6] The consecration of the pagoda, which involves the hoisting of the htidaw (sacred umbrella, Burmese: ထီးတော် pronounced as /[tʰí dɔ̀]/) and the seinbudaw (diamond lotus bud, Burmese: စိန်ဖူးတော် pronounced as /[sèɪɰ̃ bú dɔ̀]/), took place on 10 March 2009.
The massive base of the pagoda which may be mistaken for a large hill is completely man-made. The pagoda precinct also comprises:
Seven captive white elephants are kept at the pagoda grounds, under the custody of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation's Forest Department.[7] [8] They are kept in inhumane conditions, shackled for 22 hours a day and housed in small open-air pavilions.[9]