The Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, also known as the Golden Stone, is a famous Buddhist shrine and pilgrimage site in Mon state in Myanmar. The pagoda is 5.5 meters high and sits on top of a granite stone balancing on a cliff ledge.
For 2,500 years, a huge rock has been hanging over the abyss that opened up at Mount Chaittiyo in Myanmar. Nobody can explain how the multi-ton boulder has not yet fallen off the cliff. The people of Myanmar are sure that only God's providence can keep this stone from falling.
The Chaittiyo stupa was first mentioned in Burmese chronicles in the 16th century, but texts on the history of the creation of the stupa date the creation of a stone block to the 5th century BC. The stone is about 6 meters high and about 25 meters in girth.
Legend has it that the Buddha once gifted a hermit monk he met with a lock of his hair. Not knowing how best to preserve the priceless relic, the monk turned to the king. It was decided to raise a huge boulder from the bottom of the sea, from there Nats, Burmese spirits brought it.
At the top of the boulder, a small Chaittiyo Pagoda was built, where the Buddha's hair was walled up, which is believed to protect the stone from falling.
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Today the Golden Stone with the Pagoda is one of the main pilgrimage sites for Buddhists. To touch the shrine covered with gold leaf is considered a sacred deed of believers - the belief says that whoever walks the pilgrim's path to the Golden Stone three times a year will gain honor, respect and wealth.
The pagoda and stone are located on the top of Mount Chaittiyo and are surrounded by a complex of religious buildings and places of the night for pilgrims (however, foreigners are not allowed to stay at 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.
Many skeptics, who have seen the pagoda for the first time, claim that the stone and rocks under it are one whole. However, upon closer examination, it turns out that the stone is a completely separate formation of a different origin.
The boulder can be slightly swayed by two or three people. According to some reports, a rope can be pulled under the swinging stone.
A huge number of pilgrims visit this place, especially in the last month of the Burmese year - Tabang (March). Sometimes the lighting of candles, meditation and offerings to the Buddha continue throughout the night.