Many caves in Myanmar are sacred places. They probably have always been, but since the Buddhist religion spread in Southeast Asia, the caves of Burma have become places of refuge for monks and hermits, and places of worship for the entire population. Traces of attendance for religious purposes can be found in almost all the more accessible caves . Some of them, including the well-known Pindaya, and others less known, like Myin-Ma-Hti near the town of Kalaw , have been adapted for this purpose, with ceramic flooring and internal lighting, and are full of votive stupas and statues representing the Buddha. The Pindaya cave , in particular, is one of the most important holy places for the Buddhist religion all around Asia and receives several hundred thousand visitors every year.
Their impact on the conditions of the cave, from the environmental point of view, is considerable , but the richness and socio-cultural importance of these place, frequented from thousands of years, is huge and it deserves the greatest attention to be conserved.