The Kawgun Cave (; Mon: ထီုကအ်ဂေါန်, also spelt Kawgon Cave or Kawgoon Cave) is a Buddhist cave temple, located in ,

Hpa-An Hpa-an (, ; ; , also spelled Pa-an) is the capital and largest city of Kayin State (Karen State), Myanmar (Burma). The population of Hpa-an as of the 2014 census was 421,575. Most of the people in Hpa-an are of the Karen ethnic group. Legend Le ...

Kayin State Kayin State (, ; ; , ), formerly known as Karen State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. The capital city is Hpa-An, also spelled Pa-An. The terrain of the state is mountainous; with the Dawna Range running along the ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. The cave is lined with thousands of small Buddha statues covering its walls. The cave is an important historical and cultural heritage site in Myanmar. The rear of the cave leads to a row of floating restaurants in the Ruby Lake.

Location

The Kawgun Cave is located eight miles from Hpa-an, 28 miles from

Mawlamyine Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; ; , ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' southeast of Yangon and south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. Mawlamyine was an ancient ...

, and two miles from the west bank of

Thanlwin River The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

. Located at the foot of Mt. Kawgun, the cave is 130 feet long, 70 feet wide, and 25 feet high. Mt. Kawgun is 60,000 feet long from northeast to southwest, and the highest point is 10,000 feet high.

History

The Kawgun Cave is a limestone cave. The origins of the cave temple are not clear. It is believed to have been constructed around the 7th century, but historian Nai Maung Toe has speculated, on the basis of its inscriptions, that the site might date as far back as the 6th or 7th century. The first known Western visitor to the cave was

John Crawfurd John Crawfurd (13 August 1783 – 11 May 1868) was a British physician, colonial administrator, diplomat and writer who served as the second and last resident of Singapore. Early life He was born on Islay, in Argyll, Scotland, the son of Sam ...

in January 1827. Three stone reliefs were found in the Kawgun Cave, two of which are related to Buddhism, and the other one is related to Hinduism. One of the Buddhist reliefs has 23 lines of the ancient

Mon script Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * ...

carved on the left side of the statue's robe. The right side of the robe is already broken and only 3 lines remain. In addition to the depictions of

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

and

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

in the Hindu stone reliefs, there is also an image of

Ganesh Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

. The Kawgun Cave has stone and ink inscriptions that can supplement the historical evidence. The ink inscription stated the names of the donors and their wishes, as well as the number of Buddha images they donated. According to the stone inscription that is written in the ancient Mon script, some Buddha statues were donated by a queen consort of

Martaban Mottama (, ; Muttama , ; formerly Martaban) is a town in the Thaton District of Mon State, Myanmar. Located on the west bank of the Thanlwin river (Salween), on the opposite side of Mawlamyaing, Mottama was the capital of the Martaban Kingdo ...

. When King

Anawrahta Anawrahta Minsaw (, ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077) was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that ...

Pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

conquered Thaton Kingdom and took King

Manuha Manuha (; ; Old Mon ), or Makuta, was the last king of Thaton Kingdom. Manuha ruled Thaton from 1030s until 1057 when he was defeated by King Anawrahta of Pagan Kingdom. According to the Mon tradition, Manuha was the 59th in the line of king ...

to Pagan, the queen consort of Martaban escaped. It is said that she hid in the Cave and donated Buddha statues there. The stone sculpture where the Mon inscription was inscribed on the hem of the robe. Kawgun-script1

The inscription has 23 lines in ancient Mon language. It can be generally divided into two categories, donation and wish. The nearest translation is as follows: The cultural heritage in Kawgun Cave is being maintained by the Ministry of Culture with technology and protected by laws.

References

Buddhist caves in Myanmar Buildings and structures in Kayin State {{Kayin-geo-stub