Friday, 04/17/2026
Visiting Kyaikawine Monastery and some Buddhist Holy Places in Bago City
Update: 09/07/2018
Kyaikawine monastery located in Bago city, about 80km from Yangon in the north. There are 400 monks living here for studying and practicing, also one of the biggest monasteries in Myanmar. There is a typical feature in Myanmar is the monks all scatter all over the country for meditation practice, not staying in the temple. The temples were built mainly for the devout Buddhist visit and worship.
Venerable Thich Chan Tinh and the followers were guided to take a seeing around the monastery and joined the offering ceremony to all the monks who are studying here.
Then people visited the Laying Buddha Temple, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, and the Maha Pasana Guha Cave
The Laying Buddha Temple or Shewthalyaung, located in the west of Bago city, Myanmar. The temple is famous by the Sleeping Buddha with 55m (180 foot) in length and 16m (52 foot) in high. It was supposed to build in 994, at the time of King Mon Migadepa. This statue was lost in 1757 when Bago city was plundered. In the time that Myanmar was dominated by British in 1880, the Shwethalyaung Buddha statue was found and restored in 1881. In 1906, the most famous architects of Myanmar renovated the statue, and the form was kept until now.
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple or Swe Taw Myat, located in a small hill named Dhammapala, in Mayangone town, the south of Yangon Airport. The main gate is on the Sware Taw Myat Road.
The temple was built for worshiping and keeping the Buddha’s remain, the Buddha’s tooth 2500 years ago. The Tooth was brought to Myanmar from China in 1994 and was lighted for 45 days by the Burmese Buddhists to show their reverence.
The temple has a special architecture. That is a white building with golden patterns, which simulated to the ancient temple named Ananda in Bagan, built at the end of 19th century.
Swe Taw Myat has four gates in the four directions, they are similar and symmetrical. Each gate has one stair, which was enclosed by a pair of Chinthe in white and yellow color. Chinthe is a mythical creature, looks like a lion. Chinthe is a mascot and people believe that it was born for temples protection.
Maha Pasana Guha cave, where the Sixth Buddhist Council was convened, located in the north Yangon. The Sixth Buddhist Council was convened on April 15th, 1954 for the purpose of connecting Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism and heightening the independent station of Myanmar as a Buddhist state.
The first Burmese Prime Minister U Nu decided to make the Kaba Aye Pagoda, the World Peace Pagoda, together with the Maha Pasana Guha in 1952 for taking the Sixth Buddhist Synod. He was the chairman and convoked the monks for this significant Buddhist event within 2 years (1954-1956). This also coincided with the Buddhist Vesak 2500.
Some photos recorded:
