More Impressive Than The Biggest Ball of Yarn

We pulled up to the Chaukhtatgyi Buddha Temple and we were blown away by how beautiful it was.  We rushed out of the car, so I grabbed two lenses -- the 18-55 and the fixed lens (50).  As soon as we walked in, I realized I should have grabbed the wide angle lens -- the biggest reclining Buddha in the world was much bigger than I expected -- it measures 217 feet long.

Think about it -- that's more than 70 yards -- the length of an Eli Manning drive before having to settle for a field goal, or a holding penalty that forces the Giants to punt! #revamptheoffense!

Anyhow, the pictures below give you some idea of the scale.  I can see why the reclining Buddha is indoors (under a huge flat roof with two closed-in sides (short sides of the rectangle) and two open sides (long sides of the rectangle).

Our guide showed us all of the side parts of the temple, telling us more about the Buddha story than we ever knew (don't worry mom, not becoming a Buddhist!).  The craftsmanship is stunning. 

When we came to the golden thrones with Buddha images sitting on them in different poses with different meanings, There were probably 30-40 thrones in a row, behind the reclining Buddha.  A handful were all white, and then we came to the craftsmen who were making and adding the decorative flowers, lines, etc. to the thrones.  Very impressive to watch.  It was like watching a stonemason work on an old European Cathedral.  I did not want to disturb them, so I did not take pictures, which I of course regret right now, but it certainly seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

There are beautiful views out the back of the temple, including of another pagoda (my understanding is that the two words -- pagoda and temple -- are interchangeable, but pagoda is the most-used. . .except here at the reclining Buddha it is a temple.  Go figure.) 

There are giant bells and gongs throughout the temple. . .and every so often, one would ring.  

After we were done, we were given wet wipes to wipe the copious amount of dirt off the bottom of our feet.  Very cool first stop on our first day.