Kyauktawgyi Buddha Temple, Buddhist temple near Mandalay Hill, Myanmar.
Kyauktawgyi Buddha Temple is a Buddhist sanctuary near Mandalay Hill housing a massive Buddha statue carved from a single block of pale green marble. The marble was quarried from Sagyin and sculpted into a figure measuring 37 feet tall, creating one of the temple's most striking features.
King Mindon Min ordered construction of the temple in 1853, though internal conflicts and a palace rebellion during the 1860s delayed completion until 1865. After the building was finished, it became an important religious site in the Mandalay region.
The central Buddha displays the Bhumipassa Mudra posture, an important gesture in Theravada Buddhist practice throughout Myanmar. This hand position symbolizes a moment of spiritual awakening and remains deeply meaningful to worshippers who visit the temple.
The temple welcomes visitors daily and requires modest dress when entering the sacred grounds located near Mandalay moat. The site is best explored on foot as part of a visit to the Mandalay Hill area, and visitors should plan to remove their shoes before stepping inside.
The marble block took 13 days to transport and required the coordinated effort of more than 10,000 workers to move it from the quarry to its current location. This remarkable logistical achievement reflects the importance the site held for people in that era.
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