Shwesayan Pagoda
Buddhist temple in Myanmar
Shwesayan Pagoda (Burmese: ရွှေစာရံ ဘုရား) is a Buddhist temple located in Patheingyi Township, 14 miles from Mandalay, Myanmar. Situated near the Dokhtawaddy River, it was built by Saw Mon Hla, one of the principal queens of King Anawrahta of Pagan.
The temple was significantly damaged on 28 March 2025 by the 2025 Myanmar earthquake.
Legend
According to Burmese chronicles, Saw Mon Hla was driven out by her rival queens, who were jealous of her status as Anawrahta's favorite. Her rivals accused her of witchcraft, forcing Saw Mon Hla to leave Anawrahta and return to her homeland, Maw.
On her return to Sae Lant village, her birthplace in northern Maw Shan State, one of her earrings, which contained a relic of the Buddha, dropped into a stream. As it fell, dozens of golden sparrows appeared, circling the spot where the earring landed. The stream was later named "Na Daung Kya", meaning "the earring fell into". Saw Mon Hla built a pagoda near the riverbank (located in present-day Patheingyi Township, Mandalay), enshrining her earrings and the Buddha relic. The pagoda's façade faced east, toward her birthplace in Shan State.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Shwesayan Pagoda” is buddhist temple in Myanmar. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Shwesayan, Pagoda and Buddhist, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “buddhist temple in Myanmar” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q13074789. Authority coordinates are 21.840, 96.214. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2025.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Shwesayan Pagoda”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Shwesayan Pagoda primary sources, Shwesayan Pagoda archive and Shwesayan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Shwesayan Pagoda”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Shwesayan Pagoda” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.