The Golden Rock

One of the most sacred places in Myanmar, the Kyaik-htiyo-pagoda is situated on the top of the Golden Rock, 1.100 m above Kyaikto in the Mon-state, approximately 60 km E of Bago.

The golden rock is a large boulder of granite, which is supported by an extremely small area of contact with the rock beneath. It seems to be just before falling down, but it has been lying there for hundreds of years already. The pagoda upon it is erected upon one hair of the Lord Buddha.

"Kyaik-htiyo" means "pagoda upon an hermit's head".











In 2001 the Golden Rock was newly gilded and the pagoda was renovated.
It is remarkable that they used scaffoldings made of steel pipes. Perhaps the advantage over bamboo was that the steel-scaffoldings need not lean against the Rock and so would not influence the stability.