Eastern Devotional Hall

The Eastern Devotional Hall, like its counterpart to the west, was built with donations from Ma May Gale, queen of Tharyarwady, in the early 1800's and was described at the time as the handsomest on the pagoda platform. It featured screen carvings depicting the previous lives of the Buddha. Rebuilt in following the fire of 1931, the present hall features screen carvings with a different motif altogether--the peacock, the symbol of Myanmar nationalism in the 1920's and 30's. The Buddha image in the Eastern Devotional Temple is that of Kakusandha, the first Buddha of the present world-age. The image (as well as the larger images in front) is unusual in that, unlike most other images which have the fingers of the right hand touching the earth, the right hand here has the palm turned outward in the "boon" or favor bestowing pose. The traditional pose seems to stem from Buddha touching the earth as a witness to his deeds of merit, which he used to rout Mara, the Evil One, enroute to attaining Enlightenment. The photo to the left shows the exterior of the devotional hall, with its new motif, while the photo to the right captures the interior of the hall and the Buddha images with their unusually positioned hands.