Burma/ Myanmar: A 1920s view of Kuthodaw Pagoda from Mandalay Hill.

Kuthodaw Pagoda, literally meaning Royal Merit Pagoda, and formally titled Mahalawka Marazein, is a Buddhist temple and stupa located in Mandalay, central Burma. It lies at the foot of Mandalay Hill and was built during the reign of King Mindon (1808-78). The stupa itself, which is gilded above its terraces, is 57 m (188 ft) high, and is modelled after the Shwezigon Pagoda at Nyaung-U near Bagan. In the grounds of the pagoda are 729 'kyauksa gu' or stone-inscription caves, each containing a marble slab inscribed on both sides with a page of text from the Tipitaka, the entire Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. The stone inscriptions are considered to be the largest book in the world.