Read "The Road to Mandalay" by B.M. Croker online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The first and principal sight in Rangoon is the great Shwe Dagon Pagoda, and on Sunday afternoon Shafto and his new acquaintance passed between the golden lions at its base, and slowly ascended flight after flight of steep brick steps, lined with flower-decked shrines and blocked by dense masses of worshippers, who were swarming up and down.
The temple stands in imposing majesty on a wide platform and dominates the town-in fact, apart from the trade and business element, the Pagoda _is_ Rangoon. The splendid edifice is entirely encased in plates of solid gold, and the "Ti," which rises from the inverted begging-bowl, is studded with priceless precious stones-emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds-which flash and glitter in the sun. These have been presented by pious pilgrims from all parts of the province and beyond; for, with the exception of the Caaba at Mecca, no earthly shrine attracts such multitudes, or receives such generous largesse.