The Kuthodaw Pagoda, located close to the Mandalay Hill, is one of few original buildings in the town that wasn’t ransacked or burnt down.

The gleaming stupa has been gilded with gold leaf instead of spray paint.
A god that resembles Garuda of the Hindus. A temple topping. The ancient Star Flower Tree, planted in 1892.
Its propped-up branches spread shade over the large plaza.
Row upon row of smaller white stupas house tablets containing the Buddhist law.
One of the 729 marble tablets inscribed with the Buddhist canon, each housed in its own stupa.
Drinking water is supplied at every temple.
The primary Buddha within the main Stupa.Much of the interior is tiled in intricate patterns made up of small pieces of mirror.
An alabaster Buddha. More on our 2013 trip to Myanmar.