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Situated about half a mile west of Nyaung U, Shwezigon Pagoda has three terraces, bell shape, embossed circular rings, down-turned and up-turned lotus, petals, celestials stairwayds and so forth, like a sacred reliquary of typical early Bagan architecture, built by King Anawrahta of Bagan, as guided by Shin Arahan in 421 ME, finished by King Kyansittha, enshrining various relics of Buddha. At its four facades were all standing-posture immages of Buddha. It has nine wonders (1) its umbrella being stead-fast without being fastened with cable (2) its shadow not extending beyond its walls (3) gold leaf papers dropped from atop not getting beyond the walls (4) its walled environs never being congested regardless of number of pilgrims (5) no human could be the first in offering food at the first bowl (6) the stupa seeming to be higher than it is (7) the drum sounded from one side is not heard from the other (8) no rainwater remains within the walls (9) the star flower plants bear flowers all year round.
Its golden mass giving it an air of weight and stability, the Shwezigon dervies its name from Jeyyabhumi, “Ground of Victory”. Two great kings, notes for their patronage of the Religion, are associated with the Shwezigon: Anawrahta (1044-1077) and Kyansittha (1084-1113). Tradition has it that the holy tooth, collar-bone and frontlet relics of the Buddhia are enshrined in the Shwezigon, the tooth presented by the King of Sri Lanka, the frontlet obtained from Thayekhittaya near modern Pyay. The chronicles relate that Anawrahta placed the frontlet relic on a jeweled white elephant and, making a solemn vow, said, “Let the white elephant kneel in the place where the holy relic is fain to rest!” And it was there, at the place where the white elephant knelt, that Anawrahta built the Shwezigon, although he was to finish only the three terraces before he died.  Site plan of Shwezigon Pagoda
The chronicles go on to relate that on the accession of Kyansittha, the royal teacher Shin Arahan urged him to complete the Shwezigon. Kyansittha then marshaled all his people and quarried rock from Mount Tuywin in the east to build the pagoda. Marvellously, the pagoda was finished in seven months and seven days, and the chronicles record with some pride, “Shwezigon is famous in the world of men and the world of Brahmas.”
 The Buddha Kakusandha standing
Kyansittha also set up, at the eastern approach of the Shwezigon, a lengthy inscription in Mon on two stone pillars. It does not describe the building of the pagoda itself, but instead relates the prophecy of the Buddha that there would be a great and mighty king at Bagan, during whose reign the Religion would flourish, and proclaims Kyansittha to be the king of that prophecy, “ Know ye all men that this is he !”
A dance style from the bagan period
Apart from its sanctity as a shrine of the holy relics of the Buddha, the Shwezigon is important architecturally because it became the prototype for later Myanmar pagodas. The structure is fairly simple. First, there are three receding square terraces, then an octagonal base providing a transition from the square of the terraces to the circle of the dome above. The dome itself is bell shaped, with a band of moulding gridling its middle. The sharply tapering conical finial, which is ringed, rises immediately above the dome and is crowned by a hti (umbrella). Steps provide access to the terraces which have green glazed plaques depicting scenes from the Jatakas.
Wooden Sculpture on the door
On each of the four sides of the pagoda there is a small, square temple, housing a standing Buddha in bronze, 13 feet high.
 Reference
1. Ancient Pagodas in Myanmar Vol I , Jan 2003, by Myat Min Hlaing 2. Glimpses of Glorious Bagan, Jan 1996, by The Universities Historical Research Centre
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