The Maha Lawka Marazein Kuthodaw Pagoda

It is situated at about 274.2m from the foot of the Mandalay Hill, to the southeast of the Mandalay Hill. The pagoda was built by King Mindon in M.E 1221. Its height is 57.27m. It was completed along with the construction of three great walls in M.E 1224. Within these three walls, in the 5.26hectres wide precinct, the Buddhist scriptures of the Three Baskets were inscribed on stone slabs and housed in shrines, the total number of the inscriptions being 729. This task of meritorious deed was completed in M.E 1230. The inscriptions were inscribed on alabaster slabs of 1.52m long, 1.06m wide and 0.15m thick, and about 0.46m of the slab was erected in the ground.

Central golden pagoda

It is figuratively called the World’s Biggest Book. With the public donated money, an ornamental umbrella of stone was offered to shelter each standing inscription slab so as to preserve the inscriptions through time and changes. Between one cave-shrine housing the inscription slab and another were systematically grown star-flower trees and Madhuca longifolia at equal distances under the supervision of the Moe Bye Sit-ke ( Second-in-command of a military unit ) in M.E 1254. Today visitors to the pagoda can pay obeisance to the Buddha Image, and enjoy sweet recreation beneath the sweet-smelling, cool, shady trees.

Explanatory inscriptions at the entry in Myanmar and English

Some of the 729 stupas at Kuthodaw Pagoda

Entrance of the pagoda

(Source: myanmars.net)