Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, also known as Golden Rock is a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage site in Mon State, Burma. It is a small pagoda (7.3 metres (24 ft)) built on the top of a granite boulder covered with gold leaves pasted on by devotees. According to legend, the Golden Rock itself is precariously perched on a strand of the Buddha's hair. The balancing rock seems to defy gravity, as it perpetually appears to be on the verge of rolling down the hill. The rock and the pagoda are at the top of Mt. Kyaiktiyo. It is the third most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in Burma after the Shwedagon Pagoda and the Mahamuni Pagoda. A glimpse of the "gravity defying" Golden Rock is believed to be enough of an inspiration for any person to turn to Buddhism.

“Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand soprano, classical crossover artist, songwriter and UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached #1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide. Pure is the fastest-selling international début classical album to date, having made Westenra an international star at age 16. In August 2006, she joined the Irish group Celtic Woman, was featured on their Celtic Woman: A New Journey CD and DVD, toured with them on their 2007 Spring Tour, and also was featured on their DVD, The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection, released in 2008”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The world's biggest-selling soprano, Hayley Westenra, has today been announced as the voice of ITV's coverage of this years Rugby World Cup, with her version of “World In Union”. The multi-million selling artist releases her fifth album, “Paradiso”, that has been produced by film composing legend Ennio Morricone, on 29th August. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Dhofar Region, Oman. Much of Oman is desert, but the Arabian Sea coast in the Dhofar region represents a startling difference in climate. This coastal region catches the monsoon rains, or khareef, during the summer months. Drenching rains fall primarily on the mountainous ridge that separates the lush, fertile areas along the coast from the arid interior, recharging streams, waterfalls and springs that provide plentiful water supplies in the fertile lowlands for the remainder of the year. Image taken by Landsat 5 on April 2, 2005. (Photo by USGS/NASA)

This handout picture released by the Icelandic Coast Guard on May 29, 2024 shows billowing smoke and flowing lava pouring out of a new fissure, during a surveilance flight above a new volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, western Iceland. (Photo by Icelandic Coast Guard/Handout via AFP Photo)

Tourists play at a beach covered by a thick layer of green algae on July 3, 2013 in Qingdao, China. A large quantity of non-poisonous green seaweed, enteromorpha prolifera, hit the Qingdao coast in recent days. More than 20,000 tons of such seaweed has been removed from the city's beaches. (Photo by China Foto Press)

Playful seals. The pair of playful seals swim around each other. Two passionate seals were captured on camera in a tender embrace by underwater photographer Robert Bailey, 50, near the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast, UK. (Photo by Robert Bailey/Medavia)

People enjoy the fine weather on the coast at Wembury during the first ever nationwide survey to map the location of the threatened and creatures on March 24, 2011 in near Plymouth, England. Often found on the coast, and particularly in the south west of England, the number of oil beetle species found in the UK has halved in the last 100 years and the survey will help establish the whereabouts of the remaining four species and boost efforts to secure their future. The survey is being launched today by Buglife: The Invertebrate Trust and the National Trust in partnership with Natural England and Oxford University Museum of Natural History. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Partipants vie for the ball during the 11th Mud Olympics held at the North Sea coast in Brunsbuettel, Germany, July 11, 2015. Amateur athletes have competed in several disciplines at the Mud Olympics since 2004. (Photo by Axel Heimken/EPA)