The Chaittiyo Pagoda, also known as the Golden Rock, is a famous Buddhist shrine and pilgrimage site in Mon state in Myanmar.
The Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is 5.5 meters high and sits on top of a granite stone balancing on a cliff ledge. The stone is covered with gold leaf. According to believers, the stone was placed on the rock by two nats (Burmese spirits) about 2500 years ago. Women are prohibited from touching the stone and being in the immediate vicinity of it.
The Kyaiktiyo Pagoda and stone are located at the top of Mount Chaittiyo and are surrounded by a complex of religious buildings and places of the night for pilgrims ( foreigners are prohibited from staying in them overnight). Open-body trucks carry pilgrims and tourists from the center of the nearby town of Qingpun to the terminal of an unpaved site just below the summit along a 16 km long serpentine. There is a 3 km pedestrian road from the terminal to the top. The square next to the pagoda offers a magnificent view of the city and the sea.
The Kyaiktiyo Pagoda considered a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists and also an important tourist destination.
Access : Coordinates: 17.481682, 97.098118 / The Kyaiktiyo Pagoda- Golden Rock is located on a mountain near the town of Kyaikto in Mon state.Kyaiktiyo, also sometimes written Kyaikhteeyoe, is a small pilgrim town in the mountains almost 200 km from Yangon in Southeastern Myanmar.
Highlights :
- The site has a complex geological structure. The 1102 meter high dome on which the Golden Rock is located consists of a volcanic hard rock (basalt) that is blended with metamorphic rocks and older rocks from the Carboniferous.
- The rock has a coating of gold leaf. The pilgrims bring gold leaf which they stick to the sacred rock. It is gold-plated up to a height of about two meters. Women are not allowed to touch the sanctuary. The stupa is crowned by a hti.
- According to believers, the stone was placed on the rock by two nats (Burmese spirits) about 2500 years ago. Women are prohibited from touching the stone and being in the immediate vicinity of it.
- According to legend, the hair of the Buddha is immured in the pagoda, which prevents the stone from sliding off the ledge.
Go next : Bago : Famous for the highest pagoda in the world, the Shwemawdaw Pagoda. / Hpa-An : Famous for its numerous caves and green surroundings / Mawlamyine : Famous for the biggest reclining Buddha statue of Myanmar.
