It’s known as the world’s largest book. But it doesn’t look much like any book you’ve seen before.
Each of the 729 “pages” is a large marble tablet inscribed with text from the Tipitaka (some of the Buddhist scriptures). The text was originally in gold, but it has long since weathered away. Each page is housed in its own individual white stupa. They radiate out in concentric squares from a central golden stupa. From the air, it looks like a remarkably uniform above-ground cemetery.
The earliest dated example of the written Burmese language (dated to 1112 or 1113) is on a stone slab at Myazedi Stupa near Old Bagan.
The main stupa is modeled after the 11th-century Shwezigon Pagoda in Nyaung-U, near Bagan. But this one is much newer, dating back to the 1860s during the reign of King Mindon.
Photos of Kuthodaw Pagoda
What To Know Before You Go
Kuthodaw Pagoda is located at the foot of Mandalay Hill and not far from Shwenandaw Golden Palace Monastery.
It’s the site of a major festival in the October full moon as people gather and light candles within the grounds.
Yep, you guessed it: you’ll have to take your shoes off as with any Buddhist holy site.
