Botataung Paya

(Burmese). Literally ‘Stūpa of the 1,000 leaders’. This stūpa in Burma was named after the 1000 military leaders who escorted relics of the Buddha brought from India over 2000 years ago. The monument was completely destroyed during the Second World War and the present stūpa, 131 feet high, is a recent structure, built in a very similar style to its predecessor. However, unlike most zedis, which are solid, this one is hollow and one can walk through it and admire the ancient relics and artefacts, including small silver and gold Buddha images, which were sealed inside the earlier stūpa.