WPEP #124 Five Buddhas

Applying gold leaf to statues of Buddha during the Paung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival, Inle Lake, Myanmar. During Shan State's most important Buddhist Festival, four of the five Buddha images from the main pagoda are taken on a tour by boat around the lake. At each local pagoda where they stop, worshipers scramble to apply gold leaf to the statues. Over the years these four images have become unrecognizable due to the large amount of gold leaf applied. The fifth and smallest image in the photo belongs to the local pagoda.