The mountain stands 2400 feet (737m) above the plain, and is located about 30 miles (50km) east of Pagan. Although Mount Popa has long been revered as the home of Burma's most powerful nats, the temple complex at the top of the mountain is Buddhist, reflecting a thorough integration of Burmese animism into the Buddhist system. Every piece of the temple had to be carried up the mountain by hand.