Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 4).djvu/223

] In the Shan States are many renowned pagodas; among which may be mentioned Mwedaw at Bawgyo in Hsipaw; Kaunghmu Mwedaw Manloi in South Hsenwi, built on the spot where Gaudama died in one of his earlier incarnations as a parrot; Kaunghmu Kawmong at Manhpai, illuminated by nats on dark nights; Anteng and Thandaung in Yawnghwe said to have been built by Asoka and repaired by Anawrata.



Besides pagodas, Burmese sacred buildings include monasteries, thein, and zayat. Some of the more notable monasteries have already been described. Every village has its monastery, a one-storeyed building, where the monk and his acolytes reside, absorbed in meditation or engaged in teaching young boys.

Inscriptions. "Burma is one of the very richest countries in Indo-China in lithic inscriptions. The least religious