Pilgrims return to Buddha’s golden footprints

Golden opportunity: People spreading gold leaves on the footprint of Buddha during the Mann Shwe Sat Taw Pagoda Festival at Min Bu township in Magway Region. — AFP

Devotees are returning in greater numbers to a central Myanmar temple, built around the gold-lined footprints of Buddha, after the Covid-19 pandemic and a military coup curbed the annual pilgrimage.

The Shwe Sat Taw pagoda in the Magway region, west of the military capital Naypyidaw, was built around footprints that, according to myth, the Buddha left during a visit more than 1,000 years ago.