GOLDEN SHRINE
Kyaiktiyo Pagoda
Gobsmacked! The first glimpse of the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda makes you feel that way. The oddly misshapen conical orb balanced precariously on the side of a larger granite platform may topple over and roll down the hill any minute. But it doesn’t.
It hasn’t rolled down for centuries and this has resulted in thousands taking an arduous 11 kilometre roller coaster ride in flatbed trucks to the hilltop to pay homage to this gleaming wonder.
Legend has it that a celestial king was so impressed by the asceticism of a particular Buddhist monk that he carried this rock, which resembles the monk’s head, and placed it on the platform. Another tale is that the rock’s ungainly balance is due to a meticulously placed strand of Lord Buddha’s hair.
Located in Mon State some 20 kilometres from Yangon, the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is the third most important pilgrimage site in Myanmar. Male devotees display a unique reverence as they apply gold leaf onto the boulder, making the pagoda gleam day and night. And the sheer drop beyond the rockface pushes the envelope in terms of wonderment.
The trip begins at the base of the hill for a tightly packed bone crunching ride up the mountain with a daredevil truck driver who takes multiple hairpin bends on two wheels. Then leave your footwear and join the throngs including saffron robed monks making their way along the staircase.
Stop by on any of the viewing platforms replete with shrines and mini-pagodas. Women are not allowed into the inner sanctuary; they’re permitted only on the outer balcony and lower courtyard.
The Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, which is some seven metres (24 feet) high, is best viewed at sunrise or sunset when the sky’s pink and orange hues soften the blinding gold. At dusk, you will also pass novice monks lighting clay lamps and groups of devotees sitting on straw
mats, enveloped by fragrant joss sticks and chanting intonations.
Brown robed hermits stand motionless in the middle of the pathway, ringing bells. Do feel generous and add a note or two into those buckets suspended off a wooden beam, which they carry on their shoulders.
While an old-world devotional charm is ubiquitous in the pagoda’s vicinity, a short distance away from the main path there is a marked change. Rows of stalls sell the weirdest medicinal potions and if you are squeamish or suffer from ophidiophobia, it might be a good idea to avoid the contents of those jars…