When a massive earthquake hit Myanmar last month, centuries of sacred history tumbled down—towering Buddha statues, sky-scraping stupas and the pure-white pagoda where 83-year-old Khin Sein has prayed for most of her life.
The magnitude-7.7 tremor razed Nagayon Pagoda in the central city of Mandalay, Myanmar’s last royal capital where ancient heritage was decimated in the disaster which claimed more than 3,700 lives.
For around 200 years, the temple was adorned with a carving of a sacred serpent said to have shielded the Buddha from the elements after his enlightenment.
The quake that struck one month ago on Monday reduced it to a heap of shapeless masonry, half burying the snake’s bowing head.
“I cried out to pray that Nagayon Pagoda would save me when the quake started,” said Khin Sein. “But my son told me that the pagoda was. . .
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