Thihoshin Buddha Statue

The Thihoshin Buddha statue was built by King Alaung Sithu, the ruler of Bagan, in 479 Myanmar Era. It is in Myitkaing Quarter of Pakokku, Magway Division. The King of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), who had received Banyan wood from die King of Celestial Beings ordered it mixed with sandalwood and otter lands of nine fragrant wood and had a Buddha statue made with it, and presented it to King Alaung Sithu. It was variously known as the Theingoya statue, the Theingoshin statue or die Thihosin. King Alaung Sithu placed the Thihoshin statue on a throne embellished with nine gems, and, with a vow, carried it to .the upper reaches of the Ayeyarwady, from Bagan on his royal barge.

The Ayeyarwady being full of bends, the barge stopped at a place called Myitmakaing. The King chose the senior disciple from among 500 of Bagan Buddhist missionary Shin Arahan to mark a place on the sandbank where a pagoda was built to house the Thihoshin statue, naming it the Muhtaw Zedi. It was also called the Myitmakaing Muhtaw. The Myitmakaing quarter is today the Myitkaing quarter of Pakokku. In Myanmar Era 1185, the headman of Myintha village renovated the pagoda, gilded it and had two replicas of the original standing Thihoshin statue cast and placed on either side of the Thihoshin statue with the result that pilgrims today find three statues on their pilgrimage there.