The Kawgun Cave is a limestone cave. The origins of the cave temple are not clear. It is believed to have been constructed around the 7th century, but historian Nai Maung Toe has speculated, on the basis of its inscriptions, that the site might date as far back as the 6th or 7th century. The first known Western visitor to the cave was
John Crawfurd in January 1827. Three stone reliefs were found in the Kawgun Cave, two of which are related to Buddhism, and the other one is related to Hinduism. One of the Buddhist reliefs has 23 lines of the ancient
Mon script carved on the left side of the statue's robe. The right side of the robe is already broken and only 3 lines remain. In addition to the depictions of
Brahma,
Vishnu and
Shiva in the Hindu stone reliefs, there is also an image of
Ganesh. The Kawgun Cave has stone and ink inscriptions that can supplement the historical evidence. The ink inscription states the names of the donors and their wishes, as well as the number of Buddha images they donated. According to the stone inscription written in the ancient Mon script, some Buddha statues were donated by a queen consort of
Martaban. When King
Anawrahta of
Pagan conquered
Thaton Kingdom and took King
Manuha to Pagan, the queen consort of Martaban escaped. It is said that she hid in the Kawgun Cave and donated Buddha statues there. The inscription has 23 lines in ancient Mon language. It can be generally divided into two categories, donation and wish. The nearest translation is as follows: {{Blockquote (Translation): ''"I'm the queen of Muhtah (Muttama) living in Du'vop, carved this Buddha. My disciples and I assertiverly made the terra-cotta Buddha images and carved stone Buddha statues in Du'vop and in the province. I inspired other masters to carve stone Buddha.''" The cultural heritage in Kawgun Cave is being maintained by the Ministry of Culture with technology and protected by laws. == References ==