Kyauktawgyi Pagoda

Kyauktawgyi Pagoda means the Pagoda of the Great Marble Image. It is also known as Maha Thetkya Marazain Pagoda. Kyauktawgyi Pagoda built by King Mindon stands at the foot of Mandalay Hill. The Image was carved out of a huge single block of marble. It took three years from 1863 to 1865. The Pagoda is so-called because it houses a large image of the Buddha sculpted from a single block of beautiful Sagyin marble. In the brick pyathats on the mahayan wall were figures of 80 arahantas. At the four corners were grown Bodhi trees from Sri Lanka. Now only one is left in the north-west. After the king’s demise. The Saopha of Nyaungshwe built its gantakuti temple and a tazaung for pilgrims there.