Planetary Stations

Many Burmese start their visit to the pagoda here, at the eight "Planetary Stations" surrounding the foot of the pagoda. These are an expression of the Hindu-Buddhist notion of the cosmos, according to which the posts are arranged. However, these are simultaneously rejected by many other Burmese as non-Buddhist because of the mentioned association with astrology and superstition. The eight shrines are each assigned to the day of the week of the believer's birth, with Wednesday The division into eight week days is part of the Mahabote zodiac. It is based on the Hindu astrological system and is an aspect of Burmese Theravāda Buddhism. The number eight is of great importance here and besides the eight cardinal directions, animal signs and days of the week, there are also eight planets. Rahu, the eighth celestial planet, stands for the afternoon of the split Wednesday. further divided into morning and afternoon. Each shrine also represents a compass point, a planet, and an animal. The importance of these shrines for the Burmese is illustrated, for instance, by the fact that the first letter of a person's name is determined by the day of the week one was born.

This shrine stands on the southern side of the pagoda. The rear pole shows that it is the shrine for Wednesday morning as well as the planet Mercury. On the lower platform of the shrine is a golden tusked elephant, which is the assigned animal for this compass point. On the upper platform is a seated Buddha, also decorated with gold. The water basins on both platforms are decorated with gold tiles.

It is important to emphasize that there is no prescribed way to pray at the Planetary Stations. Nevertheless, people can often be seen pouring water over the Buddha statue of their Planetary Station. The number of times the water is poured over the statue may depend on the age of the worshiper, but they may also be numbers that are considered important for other reasons. The water is said to represent refreshment for the Buddha. The prayers are offered in the direction of the pagoda. Furthermore, other offerings such as flowers, incense, tha-bye leaves (laurel) are made.