Built in 994 AD by the Mon King Migadeipha, the Shwethalyaung is one of the largest reclining Buddha figures in the world at 55 metres long and 16 metres high. The figure depicts the Buddha in his final moments before passing into nirvana, and the expression on the face — calm, slightly smiling, turned gently to one side — is considered one of the finest examples of Mon Buddhist sculpture anywhere. The soles of the feet are decorated with 108 auspicious symbols, intricate and worth a close look.
After King Alaungpaya sacked Bago in 1757, the city was largely abandoned, and the jungle reclaimed everything including this enormous statue. It lay completely hidden until the colonial era, when British engineers building a railway line in 1880 began clearing the site. The story of the rediscovery — workers cutting through undergrowth and slowly realising the stones beneath them formed a face, then a shoulder, then an enormous reclining form — has become part of Bago's identity. The statue was restored and has been under a large protective roof since 1994.