pagodas, and other religious artefacts. The gold-leaf workshops in Mandalay are a popular attraction. Gold demand has soared in recent years fueled by inflation, political instability and wars in ...

The top of the hill has been leveled to form a great, paved terrace, where thousands may congregate. The main pagoda rises from ... Irrawaddy River near modern Mandalay—but, as it was with ...

But since each storey is staggered 45 degrees from the lower storey, the interior of the pagoda on the whole still has eight angles. The doors and windows on each storey are also staggered to ...

Myanmar is a republic governed by a military junta, with an authoritarian political system that has limited ... 2,000 temples and pagodas scattered across a vast plain. Mandalay, the last royal ...