In the state of Mon, located in Myanmar, there is an amazing Buddhist shrine - the "Golden Stone". It is a huge boulder hanging over the abyss. It has been standing in this place for several thousand years, and all this time it endures all the whims of the elements without moving a single millimeter.
A lot of Buddhists come to the "Golden Stone", because it is not only an attraction, but also a famous shrine that every believer must visit. There is an unusual stone on Mount Chaittiyo, which is not so easy to get to. Usually believers overcome 16 kilometers to the mountain along a serpentine road, but not everyone can do it, so sick pilgrims or tourists who do not want to go so many kilometers in the heat can use local buses that will take them along the serpentine road and take them to the beginning of the way to To the Golden Stone. Then you still have to go up on foot for about 3 kilometers. Cars do not drive along this mountain path.
The "Golden Stone" itself is surrounded by other buildings, there is even a guard here. However, the most interesting structure is the pagoda, which is located directly on the rock and hangs with it over the abyss. It is small, only 5.5 meters, but, nevertheless, it is reputed to be the most famous shrine. It is believed that it is in this little pagoda that the Buddha's hair is kept, and it is they that prevent the boulder from falling off the cliff.
Legend
There is a local legend about how this pagoda was built and why the boulder is held on a rock. It is believed that the hermit Taiku Ta was familiar with the Buddha himself and received a lock of hair from his earthly incarnation. For a long time he kept this strand with himself and treasured it, but before dying, he decided that he needed to build a pagoda, in which he left the sacred hair, but it should be on a boulder shaped like a head.
With his request, he turned to King Tees, who agreed to fulfill his wish. There was no such stone on the ground, so they had to get it from the bottom of the sea. This was done by two Burmese spirits (natami). They placed a boulder on a rock, installed a pagoda there and walled up Buddha's hair. And his divine power, contained in this hair, prevents the stone from falling down. The pagoda itself and the stone are covered with gold leaf, which is why the stone is called gold.
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Customs and prohibitions
There are always many pilgrims near the pagoda and the stone, but the peak falls in March, the last month in the Burmese year, Tabang. In front of the entrance, which allows pilgrims to the "Golden Stone", there are shops selling plates of gold leaf. Each pilgrim considers it his duty to buy a plate and then attach it to a stone. Therefore, the layer of gold leaf on the stone grows and in some places you can even see the bumps from a large number of plates stuck on this place.
Tourists are more interested not in the sanctity of the stone, but in why it does not fall. From afar, when you just approach the shrine, it seems that the stone is tightly attached to the rock, but if you get closer, it turns out that this is not so. The stone is very unstable; if desired, several people can swing it. This happens periodically, but the stone still does not fall. Men can come up and try to move the stone, but women will not be allowed near it.
It is believed that only a woman is able to move the Golden Stone. If she touches him, he will fall off the cliff. To avoid such problems, women are not allowed closer than 10 meters to the local shrine. And so that especially desperate people would not try to sneak up to the stone, a special entrance was made, which is guarded, so that even with a strong desire to slip, touch the stone will not work. Even without protection, the local population, of which there are many, would instantly stop a desperate foreign tourist. Therefore, women can only admire from afar and take pictures, while men experience the "magic" of the stone by touching it.