Case file · Folklore / legend
The eight hairs of the Buddha, Shwedagon
Burmese tradition holds that two merchant brothers, Tapussa and Bhallika, received eight hairs from the Buddha and enshrined them on Singuttara Hill, the origin of the Shwedagon Pagoda.
588 BCE · 16.80, 96.15 · status: legend
The account
Tradition dates the founding over 2,500 years ago; archaeologists date the original stupa to between the 6th and 10th centuries CE.
The sceptical view
The traditional date is legendary.