The Kuthodaw Paya or Shrine lies at the foot of Mandalay Hill and was built during the reign of King Mindon. It was built at the same time as the construction of the Royal Palace or between the years of 1860 and 1869. They call it “the world’s largest book”. It has 729 marble slabs which are inscribed on both sides with the entire collection of Buddhist writings. It would take a year of reading for eight hours a day to read it all. It was done to preserve Buddha’s teachings, as previously, his writings were kept on banana leaves.

Each tablet has its own protective building. The complex or shrine is 13 acres. There are many other buildings and stupas, besides the tablet buildings. It was an interesting stop.

1. This is the entrance way to the shrine complex. It didn’t appear to be very large or special from the entrance.

2. After walking along the entrance pathway for a while, I took this photo. You can see that we are still a long way from the Kuthodaw Paya.

3. You can see some of the 729 marble slab protective buildings in this photo. They were in rows with plenty of space between them for large trees and sitting areas.

4. It’s easier to see a row of the protective buildings in this fourth photo.

5. You can see one of the marble slabs which stand inside each of the protective buildings. Both sides of each slab are carved with writings, and all writings were originally with gold letters.