  The purpose of this paper is twofold. First we extend the notion of
symplectic implosion to the category of quasi-Hamiltonian $K$-manifolds, where
$K$ is a simply connected compact Lie group. The imploded cross-section of the
double $K\times K$ turns out to be universal in a suitable sense. It is a
singular space, but some of its strata have a nonsingular closure. This
observation leads to interesting new examples of quasi-Hamiltonian
$K$-manifolds, such as the ``spinning $2n$-sphere'' for $K=\SU(n)$. Secondly we
construct a universal (``master'') moduli space of parabolic bundles with
structure group $K$ over a marked Riemann surface. The master moduli space
carries a natural action of a maximal torus of $K$ and a torus-invariant
stratification into manifolds, each of which has a symplectic structure. An
essential ingredient in the construction is the universal implosion.
Paradoxically, although the universal implosion has no complex structure (it is
the four-sphere for $K=\SU(2)$), the master moduli space turns out to be a
complex algebraic variety.

Symplectic Geometry