The gold pounders in Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma) flatten the precious metal by hand into whisper thin squares which are then packaged and shipped around the country for use in Buddhist temples. It is endless, backbreaking work that fills the neighbourhood with the sound of ceaseless thumping. What they create is rubbed onto the limbs, clothing and face of Buddha statues as acts of prayer. See how these wafers of piety are made.
Gold pounders | Beating wafers of piety from Areopagus on Vimeo.