Kuthodaw Pagoda; literally meaning Royal Merit Pagoda; and formally titled Mahalawka Marazein; is a Buddhist temple and stupa located in Mandalay; central Burma. It lies at the foot of Mandalay Hill and was built during the reign of King Mindon (1808鈥?8). The stupa itself; which is gilded above its terraces; is 57 m (188 ft) high; and is modelled after the Shwezigon Pagoda at Nyaung-U near Bagan. In the grounds of the pagoda are 729 'kyauksa gu' or stone-inscription caves; each containing a marble slab inscribed on both sides with a page of text from the Tipitaka; the entire Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. The stone inscriptions are considered to be the largest book in the world.

Mandalay; a sprawling city of more than 1 million people; was founded in 1857 by King Mindon to coincide with an ancient Buddhist prophecy. It was believed that Gautama Buddha visited the sacred mount of Mandalay Hill with his disciple Ananda; and proclaimed that on the 2;400th anniversary of his death; a metropolis of Buddhist teaching would be founded at the foot of the hill. Pictures From Asia David Henley