Yangon: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday wrapped up his Myanmar trip with visits to the ‘mazar’ of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and the 2,500-year-old Shwedagon pagoda, besides performing puja at the Kalibari Temple here.
Mr Modi tweeted a picture of himself at the Mughal ruler’s grave. Bahadur Shah Zafar, who was also a prolific Urdu poet and calligrapher, died at the age of 87 in then Rangoon, where he was exiled to by the British after the 1857-revolt.
Mr Modi also paid his respects at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum and performed ‘puja’ at the Kalibari Temple. Mr Modi, on the last day of his three-day first bilateral visit to this Buddhist-majority country, visited the pagoda, considered to be the pinnacle of Myanmar’s cultural heritage.
He also planted a Bodhi tree sapling at the pagoda complex, signifying common cultural heritage.
Located west of the Royal Lake in Yangon, Shwedagon Pagoda is considered to be the most sacred and impressive Buddhist site for the Myanmarese people.
Shwedagon Pagoda is covered with hundreds of gold plates and the top of the stupa is encrusted with 4,531 diamonds, the largest of which is a 72 carat diamond.
