The most beautiful religious buildings Lower Burma

According to the legend, the presence of this 8m high rock which seems to be in unstable balance on a rocky base dates back 2,500 years. The Buddha, during one of his visits, is said to have donated one of his locks of hair to a hermit, Taik Tha. The hermit, after having kept the lock in his own hairstyle to protect him, would in turn have donated it to the king, on condition that he locked it up in a place resembling his own head. The king, having inherited supernatural powers from his father, an alchemist, and his mother, who was nothing more than a nat, a spirit, would have found the appropriate rock at the bottom of the seas. After determining, thanks to astrologers, that Kyaiktiyo was the best place to accommodate this rock, he would have placed it there in balance on the lock of Buddha's hair. The strand of hair would be the only way the rock would be kept in balance and not thrown into the void.

It is poignant to observe the faithful, monks and laymen alike, gathering in front of the rock and religiously plating fine gold leaf to earn themselves merits. The esplanade adjoining the mass of stone and gold and the various small stupas are a place of prayer as well as a place for visitors to gather to pray, have lunch or simply chat together.

Around the rock a real little town has developed, made up of stalls, small souvenir shops and religious trinkets, astrologers and healers, small restaurants and cafés. Strolling through the alleys is very pleasant

Beyond the place of worship, we go to Kyauk Ka Lat for its environment. This monastery in the middle of which stands a rocky peak surmounted by a pagoda is much visited by the locals. It is erected in the middle of a small lake, which makes it very photogenic, as is the view from its top, or almost. You have to cross a small footbridge over the water to reach it. At the end, as if it were on stilts, one can admire the pagoda and the Buddha of course, which are almost unreal and poetic at the same time.

This is the Burmese Guilin. Two karst sugar loaves occur on each side of the road. One has become a sanctuary dedicated to Nat and the other to the Hindu God Shiva.

It is a site very frequented by the Burmese, the subject of pilgrimages from Mawlamyine (buses depart from the central market at 6 a. m. and 7 p. m.).

You can reach Yele by a jetty, between two monasteries of wood on piles, one for monks and another for nuns, or by descent on the beach, by a passage to the water level. Mon states that the pagoda would have failed on the rocks a long time ago. On the island, the sanctuary is clearly divided into two halls, one of which is forbidden to women. It is still said that a woman has approached, a storm would have devastated the region immediately. Since then, railway station. In the room reserved for men, Buddha sitting on a naga, contemplates the representations of his predecessors, among the men.