During my last visit to Myanmar, my local colleagues made sure I visited Pindaya's cave which is famous for its thousands, I am not joking, maybe even hundreds of thousands Buddha statues. When my colleagues told me about this, I thought they were joking or that I was even lost in translation. But I'll show you some pictures and yes, it was true, thou-sands of statues.
According to my colleagues, decades ago local people started to build statues inside the cave or store existing statues in the cave to protect them of being stolen. You see different styles as the type of statues changed over time. It was interesting to learn more about the poses of the statues, as you could see some where the right hand would point down indicating that the monk has found a high level of peace, patience and knowledge.
As we went deeper inside the cave, there were more interesting things to discover. Such as a hole leading to a tunnel, of which local people believe that you could go from Pindaya to Bagan through this temple. Nobody really dares to try, as it is believed that two monks tried but didn't survive.
We also discovered some meditation areas where you literally had to crawl through a small hole for. I was shocked to see camera's in there, but my colleague told me that a lot of young people did intimate stuff there. How rude!
If you're ever in Myanmar, and already near the Inle Lake, I would recommend you to visit Pindaya as well, which is only a one to two hours drive. This cave, the local markets, and the great view from the cave's location is really worth it.
If you got more curious and get wait to get to Myanmar to see the inside, then watch my Youtube video!
