ABSTRACT
Colonial uses of sacred heritage in British Burma occurred primarily in and around Burma's sacred pagodas, above all at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon (Yangon). The Shwedagon Pagoda is the oldest and most sacred Buddhist site in Burma/Myanmar and is on UNESCO's tentative list of endangered world heritage sites. Wrought by political intent, these events altered the symbolism and uses of the Shwedagon Pagoda for long stretches of time. With primary focus on the colonial period in Burma, this chapter first contextualises the sacred heritage of the Shwedagon in Burma/ Myanmar with historical data and precolonial political uses of the sacred site. That different political groups interacted with the Shwedagon Pagoda in multifarious ways is not a novel inquiry. Among tens of thousands of Buddhist temples in Burma/Myanmar, Shwedagon Pagoda is the country's most sacred.
