Kyauktawgyi Buddha Temple () is a Buddhist temple located on Mindhamma Hill on

Insein Township Insein Township (, ) is located in northern Yangon. The township comprises 21 wards, and shares borders with Shwepyitha township in the north, Hlaingthaya township in the west, Mingaladon township in the east and Mayangon township in the s ...

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. The temple houses a feet tall Buddha called the Loka Chantha Abhaya Labha Muni (), which is carved out of a single piece of white marble quarried in Sagyin Hill, Madaya Township, Mandalay Region. The image weighs approximately 560 tons. The Buddha is carved making the abhayamudra (), the gesture of fearlessness. The marble image was transported using a special railroad carriage, which was then placed on a long barge donated by the Metro Asia Myanmar. The barge was pushed down the

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River (, , Ayeyarwady) is the principal river of Myanmar, running through the centre of the country. Myanmar’s most important commercial waterway, it is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long. Originating from the confluence of the ...

by three steamers, stopping along major towns before reaching Yangon. The barge was accompanied by a fleet of decorated ceremonial boats. The marble image landed at Gyogon,

on 5 August 2000 to an audience of 500,000 people, including government officials from the

State Peace and Development Council The State Peace and Development Council ( ; abbreviated SPDC or , ) was the official name of the Military dictatorship, military government of Burma (Myanmar) which, in 1997, succeeded the State Law and Order Restoration Council (; abbrevi ...

, including Chairman Senior General Than Shwe, his wife Kyaing Kyaing, and Secretary 1 General Khin Nyunt. The image was then carried atop Mindhamma Hill using a special railway carriage requiring 4 locomotives, on 10 August. The partially carved image was finished and erected at an auspicious location designated by astrologers (''aung myay'', ), where it is currently housed. The Buddha image was consecrated in February 2002. This Buddhist project was reportedly a donation to sustain for future shine brightly to Buddha Sasanar . The Kyauktawgyi Buddha Temple was built near the site of the former Nine Mile Cemetery.

Gallery

File:Kyauk Taw Kyee Pagoda.jpg, Kyauktawgyi buddha

References

{{Buddhist sites in Myanmar Buddhist temples in Yangon 20th-century Buddhist temples