Kakku

The Kakku is a pagoda complex in the hills overlooking the valley South East of Inle Lake. The remote site, only recently opened to visitors, is located in Pa-Oh territory, a people related to the Karen.

Due to its isolated location it takes considerable effort to get there. A scenic ride through the hills over small winding roads with Pa-Oh villages, houses of wood and bamboo and fields with crops as onions and garlic leads to the group of pagodas.

Some 2,500 pagodas, most of similar shape and size, are found in long rows closely put together in a square field.

At the center is the 40 meters high main stupa, surrounded by mostly well preserved smaller ones. Most still have the hti, a top element shaped like an ornamental umbrella. The centuries old pagodas are made from brick and plastered with stucco, a lot of which has crumbled off. Some of them have trees and bushes growing out of them.

Many stupas are adorned with well-preserved sculptures carved in stucco, some of which still show their original colors. A number of pagodas enshrine images of the Buddha.

Site may date back more than 2,000 years

Most stupas date from the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Some have been restored, not always skillfully, which takes away from the authenticity of the site. The Kakku site may date back to as early as the 3^rd century BC, when the Indian emperor Ashoka built a great number of pagodas and monasteries across South East Asia.

The largest Kakku pagoda is believed to have been built by Alaungsithu, King of the Bagan empire in the 12^th century. Alaungsithu was a devout Buddhist who travelled extensively in his Kingdom and built pagodas and Buddhist monuments across his empire to make merit and spread Buddhism. During the course of the centuries, many more pagodas were added.