Description
Golden Land-Golden Rock; 20 minutes; © 2019 Around pilgrimage places you are always immersed in the devotion of the believers, people plunged in their rituals performed in the presence of the divinity. Kyaiktiyo is such a place. It is considered the third most important pilgrimage place in Myanmar but is the only one that requires a journey that you cannot avoid.
Mount Kyaiktiyo on its local name Kyite Htee Yoe(cite-hti-ioe), is famous for its huge golden rock perched on its summit and represents one of the three most sacred religious sites in Myanmar, along with the Shwedagon Pagoda and the Mahamuni Temple. This place is located in the Mon State inhabited by the large and important tribe of Myanmar, the Mon tribe. Pilgrims come here from the entire country to worship and place gold leaf onto the rock.
The rock balances on the edge of a cliff sitting on a natural rock platform at an elevation of 1100 meters but appearing that it may fall down in the valley at any moment. From afar the boulder is apparently hovering over the ground. The base of the rock is painted in gold leaf in a lotus shape.
The boulder is about 7½ meters tall and right on its top, it has a golden pagoda called the Kyaiktiyo(chactio) Pagoda where is enshrined according to tradition the Buddha’s hair relic. Legend says that a hermit living in this area named Taik Tha received from Lord Buddha while visiting the area a hair relic. The King of the land was according to the legend says was a magic king, being the son of an alchemist and a naga serpent dragon princess. The hermit went to see the King and asked him to enshrine the Buddha relic on a boulder in the shape of the hermit’s head. The King found a stone on the bottom of the sea and brought it over to Kyaiktiyo and being helped by Thagyamin, the king of Tawadeintha Heaven in Buddhist cosmology, placed it in this location. According to the legend, the boat that was used to transport the boulder turned into stone so not far away a large boulder having the shape of a boat has another stupa on top of it and is named the Kyauk-thanban Pagoda.
The local tradition pretends that the Buddha’s hair, enshrined in the pagoda on top of the boulder, itself almost at the same size as the rock, prevents the Golden Rock from tumbling down the valley.
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