| Mahazedi Pagoda | |
|---|---|
မဟာစေတီ | |
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Buddhism |
| Sect | Theravada Buddhism |
| Region | Bago Region |
| Location | |
| Municipality | Bago |
| Country | Myanmar |
  Shown within Myanmar | |
| Geographic coordinates | 17°20′21″N96°27′15″E / 17.339151°N 96.454237°E /17.339151; 96.454237 |
| Architecture | |
| Founder | Bayinnaung |
| Groundbreaking | 15 November 1559 (original structure) Wednesday, 2nd waning ofNadaw 921ME[note 1] |
| Completed | 2 January 1561 (original) Thursday, 2nd waning ofPyatho, 922 ME[note 2] |
Mahazedi Pagoda (Burmese:မဟာစေတီ) is a prominent Buddhist pagoda inBago,Myanmar.
The pagoda was built by KingBayinnaung to house a gold and jewel-encrusted tooth relic of the Buddha.[3][4] The tooth relic was a replica fromDharmapala of Kotte, the king of theKingdom of Kotte, who gifted the tooth, along with analms bowl and his daughter.[5][6][4] The construction of the pagoda began in November 1559, and was completed six months later in May 1560.[1] The footprint of the pagoda was 100taung (45.72 m (150 ft)) in diameter, and the height was 150taung (68.58 m (225 ft)), without thehti ("umbrella spire").[1] Thehti spire was raised atop the pagoda for the first time on 2 January 1561.[2]
The relics arrived in 1576.[4] In 1599, KingAnaukpetlun conquered Bago and removed the relics toTaungoo.[4] In 1636, KingThalun removed the relics toInwa, enshrining them at theKaunghmudaw Pagoda inSagaing.[4] Throughout its history, the pagoda has been destroyed by several earthquakes on theSagaing Fault, on 13 September 1564, 1583, and 8 October 1888, and completely leveled in 1930.[7][3] Mahazedi Pagoda was rebuilt in the 1950s.[6]
