U Soe Lin, chair of the pagoda’s board of trustees, said, “We will extend the rear part of this building as it is narrow. We will change the height of the building’s floor as it is a bit low now.

“The extension is being made as there have been cases where the statues have been soiled and damaged when there are a large number of people trying to touch them,” he said.

U Soe Lin said that the extension works will last for two months and the bronze statue exhibition hall will be closed for one month during the period.

“If we close the exhibition hall, the maximum period of closure will be one month. The extension works will begin at the end of May. We plan to finish the project in June.

It is expected that this process will take two months to complete.

After the process, the bronze statues will be partially covered in glass to avoid being held. In addition, the positions of these statues will be changed, said U Soe Lin.

“We will change the positions of the statues so that people will be able to see other statues reflecting from the glass shields. We will have to do this move carefully as we do not wish to damage these ancient bronze statues,” he said.
Pilgrims believe that they will be healed from diseases if they pray by holding and touching the statues.

– Translation by Win Thaw Tar