The beautiful elephant, with room for two men inside, used in the Elephant Dance in Tant Kyi Taung.
On top of a mountain near the village of Tant Kyi Taung a few miles from Bagan there is a beautiful pagoda.
According to legend it was built on the spot where a royal white elephant carrying Buddha tooth relics stopped for the second time, so there is a connection between the village and elephants.
The villagers celebrate this by performing the Elephant Dance at festivals and also for lucky tourists.
The elephant is a magnificent creation of silk and beads with room inside for two men.
They dance to the music of drums and gongs; it’s very athletic and must take many hours of practice.
There is a short section of the dance (from3:27 to 3:35) on The Golden Land video here:
https://www.havepension-willtravel.com/burmamyanmar/
or on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiY8CIpchNc