Inside the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda

Inside the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda

At its heart are 5 small gilded Buddha images from the 12th Century, varying in size from about 25 cms tall to about 45 cms tall. However, these days it has become virtually impossible to tell that they are statues of a person as thousands of worshippers have added so much gold leaf to the statues that each has become virtually a solid lump of gold – and extremely heavy despite their comparatively small size.
Legend has it that the 5 Buddha statues were originally brought to Lake Inle by King Alaungsithu aka Sithu I, King of Myanmar based in Bagan, in the mid 12th Century.
Ladies cannot step to the images to touch them with gold leaves, the reason is not explained.