Myanmar | Pindaya

Pindaya Caves

Southeast Asia Tour 2015

Kalaw | Pindaya | Myanmar

03 Dec 2015 | Thu

Day 15 of 46

  • 5 Days Market Kalaw
  • Travel to Pindaya
  • Pindaya Caves
  • Homemade Paper Umbrellas Pindaya
  • Green Tea Restaurant Pindaya
  • Travel to Inle Lake
  • Nyaung Shwe Jetty | Travel Across Inle Lake to Hotel
  • Aureum Palace Resort Inle Lake

Pindaya Caves

Pindaya Caves are an awe-inspiring sight in Myanmar that attracts tourists from around the world. Located in the Shan State, Pindaya Caves are a complex of over 8,000 Buddha images of various shapes and sizes situated inside limestone caves. The caves have been a sacred pilgrimage site for Buddhists since ancient times and are considered one of the most important religious sites in Myanmar.

Impressive Display of Buddha Images at Pindaya Caves

The main cave is over 200 meters long with two entrances, and visitors can climb up to 60 feet (ca. 18 m) to view more than 10 levels of statues. Among these statues range from large ones made out of cement to small figures made out of alabaster, teak wood, and even lacquerware.

Prince Kummabhaya of Yawnghwe Fighting the Giant Spider

We have always enjoyed visiting/touring caves, but this one with all of its Buddha images is quite amazing to see.  Pindaya was not originally included in our tour (it’s a bit out of the way) but I worked with the tour company to fit it in – after seeing it now, we are so glad we did!

The Pindaya Caves (Burmese: ပင်းတယရွှေဥမင်, pronounced [pɪ́ɰ̃dəja̰ ʃwè ṵmɪ̀ɰ̃]; officially ပင်းတယရွှေဥမင်သဘာဝလိုဏ်ဂူဘုရား), located next to the town of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar) are a Buddhist pilgrimage site and a tourist attraction located on a limestone ridge in the Myelat region. The area is part of the ancestral homeland of the Danu people. There are three caves on the ridge which runs north-south, but only the southern cave can be entered and explored. It is not known whether the other two penetrate for any extended distance into the hillside. Scholars have been pushing for the site’s inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The southernmost Pindaya cave can be entered and extends for about 490 feet along a well-worn path. It is known for its interior which contains over 8,000 images of Buddha. Some of the older statues and images in the cave have inscriptions dating to the late 18th century, or early Konbaung period, and the earliest one dates from 1773. There may be some images without inscriptions that are older, but based on the style elements, Than Tun believes that none of them is older than the early 18th century and even suggests 1750 as the earliest possible date. Although most statues are of late 18th and early 19th century, many other statues and images have been placed there on an ongoing basis by different donors throughout the cave’s history up until the present time, from lay people to the ruling authorities. The collection as a whole forms an impressive display of Buddhist iconography and art from early Konbaung era to the modern period. No other place in Burma displays such a range of style, not only in the images, but also in the ornamental thrones and reredos which surround the images.

– Wikipedia Pindaya Caves

YouTube Videos

Leave a Comment