With Martin and Daniel from EPP, plus their British colleague Ewan Cameron, I took a quick trip to Naypyitaw’s Uppatasanti Pagoda. Known to be modeled on Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda, and intentionally to stand 30 cm shorter, it naturally invites comparison with its illustrious counterpart – and can only come off badly. Viewed on its merits, however, it fares better. This is an impressive addition to Myanmar’s huge inventory of Buddhist temples.

Entering as we did from the southeast, you quickly encounter a towering record of inscription. One thing you immediately notice is the regal tone. Dating from February 21, 2009 in the Gregorian calendar, and from the 12th waning of Tapodwe, 1370 in the Myanmar calendar, the opening words are “Royal City of Nay Pyi Taw”. I haven’t been able to track down the reference, but I recall that in the mid-2000s Robert H Taylor published an article pooh-poohing swirling criticism of Than Shwe for his choice of name for Myanmar’s new capital. Adopting an entirely familiar stance, Taylor insisted that the title given to the city had no more regal connotation than did the name of Nay Pyi Taw cinema opposite Traders Hotel in Yangon. Well, this inscription appears to prove him wrong about that.

The pagoda is vast, monolithic, sterile, intimidating and empty apparently at all times other than full moon days. Equally, though, it cannot be dismissed. From the platform, there are wonderful views both of the temple itself and of surrounding countryside reaching off to the Shan hills in the east, and the Kayin hills in the southeast. Inside, the temple presents an enormous, even stunning, volume of gilded and marbled space. In no sense does it rival the outstanding Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco, but in many respects it is a building of that aura and magnitude.

Uppatasanti Pagoda is worth a visit – not only because there’s little else to see in Naypyitaw, but also because of its intrinsic quality.