Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda
Highly revered temple housing five golden images of the Buddha
The Phaung Daw Oo pagoda is the most highly revered monastery in the Inle Lake area. It houses five ancient images of the Buddha that are completely covered in golf leaf.
The pagoda is easily reached by boat from Inle Lake; in front of the building is a landing pier. At the center of the monastery building is a golden stupa topped with an ornamental hti. The interior walls of the temple are decorated with murals depicting Buddhist stories.
800 Year old golden images
At the center is an ornate shrine with a pedestal, on which the five more than 800 years old images of the Buddha are kept.
So much gold leaf has been applied to the images, that they have become unrecognizable as Buddha images and look like a solid mass of gold. Every day Buddhist devotees come to the monastery to pay their respect to the images and apply more gold leaf, which only men are allowed to do.
The images are believed to have been brought to the Inle Lake region by Alaungsithu, King of the Bagan empire in the 12th century. The King was a devout Buddhist, who traveled extensively around his empire and had many Buddhist monuments built across his Kingdom, the most impressive one being the Thatbyinnyu temple in Bagan.
Boat shelter for the Karaweik barge
Near the pagoda is the boat shelter where the Karaweik boat is stored that carries four out of the five images in procession across the lake during the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda festival. At the front of the boat is the large gilded head of a Karaweik bird; at the back the gilded tail of the mythological bird.
The four images of the Buddha are kept in an ornate pavilion topped with three multi tiered Burmese style Pyatthat roofs in the center of the boat.
Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda festival
The Phaung Daw Oo pagoda festival is held during the Burmese month of Thadingyut, the 7th month of the Burmese lunar calender (October/November). The 18 day festival is the most important festival in the Shan state.
Procession of boats carrying the Buddha images
In a procession of boats four of the five images of the Buddha are removed from their shrine in the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda and placed on the Royal Karaweik barge. The barge is towed by long boats manned by up to a hundred leg rowers in colorful costumes. The Royal barge stops at 14 villages around Inle lake, where the images stay in the main monastery for one night.
Lost image miraculously reappeared
Until the mid 1960’s all five images of the Buddha were carried around the lake on the Karaweik barge. In 1965 one of the images got lost when the boat carrying them capsized and the images fell into the lake. People dived into the water and managed to recover four of them, but the 5th remained lost.
Finally they gave up their search and returned to the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda. Back in the pagoda, they found the lost image miraculously back in its shrine. Since then, only four of the images are carried around the lake, the 5th one remaining in the pagoda.
Long boat races
Another highlight of the festival are the long boat races, the rowers standing upright and rowing with an oar attached to one leg.
How to get to the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda
The pagoda is found near the bottom of the West end of Inle Lake. The easiest way to get there is by boat. Book one at hotel or travel agent or go to the pier and arrange one directly with the driver. Be sure to agree on price, duration of the trip and places to stop.
Opening hours
The monastery opens daily from 8 am until 6 pm.
During the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda festival and important Buddhist holidays it can get very crowded.
Entrance fee
Admission is free.
Attractions Inle Lake
To do & see around Inle Lake