High among the Bagan hills, it is said three brahmin monks were set a single task by the temple's last abbot: move thirty two discs of gold from one needle of stone to another, never resting two discs the wrong way round.

The old story warns that when the final disc is set in place, the temple bell will toll once, and the world it has watched over for so long will quietly end.

If a monk could move one disc every second, never pausing, never erring — how long before that bell finally rings?