Pindaya Cave, Myanmar/BURMA
Dating late 18th century
Medicine Buddha, is described as a doctor who cures suffering using the medicine of his teachings. Pindaya Cave is 490 feet underground, 650 feet long, and houses over 8,000 Buddha statues. They are made of white marble, bronze or plaster, and coated with gold leaf. Some smaller sections of the cave can only be entered by crawling in, and some are used as meditation chambers. According to local legend, the entrance pagoda was built by King Ashoka, the Indian emperor who ruled much of present day India in the 3rd century BC.