Pindaya is a small town by the banks of Botoloke Lake. Pindaya's call to fame is Pindaya Caves, located in the hill above town. Within this cave is an amazing collection of Buddha images, thousands of them, of different sizes, and representing different sculptured periods.
Nobody knows for sure how the Buddha images come to be placed in Pindaya Caves. At last count, there were close to 9000 images (some put the figure as 8094), and they are found in almost every nook and dranny of the cave, sharing the same home with stalagmites and stalactities.
Buddhas of various size and styles are crammed into the Pindaya Caves
Pindaya Caves is about one mile southwest of Pindaya town, and can be reached by horse-cart, jeep or simply on foot. Unless you have the energy, it's best to go by horse-cart, although when AsiaExplorers participants and I visited it, we went in the comfort of a relatively luxurious air-conditioned coach.
Pindaya Caves is said to be 200 million years old and has served as a place of worship since ancient times. The Buddha images found within are made of different material including teak wood, marble, alabaster, brick, cement and lacquer. There is also a pagoda of about 50 feet high near the entrance of the main cave. This pagoda is called Shwe U-min Hpaya or the Golden Cave pagoda.
The tazaung or prayer hall was built by the famous hermit U Khanti who also built many of the religious edifices on Mandalay Hill. The entire length of the cave is 490 feet. There are numerous stalactites and stalagmites in the cave, many of which have been given fanciful names including "Fairy Princess Loom", "Posts for tying horses and elephants" and so on. Some of the smaller caves are accessible only by crawling on hands and knees - we didn't try.
Picturesque view of the surrounding region from Pindaya Hill.
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About the Author: AsiaExplorers is researched and written by Timothy Tye. We take reasonable care to check and verify the accuracy of the content. However, we disclaim any responsibility for any inconvenience, mishap, injury or death resulting from following the advice provided directly or indirectly by AsiaExplorers and the comments on its pages. All the photographs in AsiaExplorers are available for publication. Please contact AsiaExplorers at the following email address for your enquiries:
