Asia inspired awe horizontally. In the perpendicular West, the great public monuments abased the visitor, compelling an upward gaze. The very name of the Acropolis announced its height; the interior spaces of Gothic cathedrals soared to heaven, leaving worshippers far below in the terrestrial mire. Yet the Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat proclaimed their majesty as the focus of a wide vista, to be approached with contemplative languor. A complete transit of the Forbidden City, crossing one vast courtyard after another, takes hours; Confucian architects must have believed that fatigue promotes obedience.

The magnificent exception is the Shwedagon, Burma's glorious, golden pagoda. Rising 320 feet from its base atop steep Singuttara Hill, on the outskirts of old Rangoon, the Shwedagon looms over the approaching pilgrim at a height equivalent to that of the Pyramid of Cheops, the tallest structure in the world until the Eiffel Tower was completed. Shwedagon means "golden hills," and the place lives up to its name with fabulous excess: Since the Buddhist shrine was raised a thousand years ago, the devout of Burma have repeatedly replated the surface of its central, bell-shaped stupa with gold, which is now estimated to weigh more than 100,000 pounds. The ornamental crown, the hti, is set with thousands of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, topazes and sapphires; at the apex, a 76-carat diamond may be seen twinkling for miles at dawn and sunset. Read More