The traditional festival of Tabaung is Sand Pagoda Festival. It is assumed that Sand Pagoda Festival were held annually in Tabaung in the Innwa Period according to the earliest historical evidence so far traceable. Like other pagoda festivals Sand Pagoda Festival is also associated with Buddhism. Since Buddhism was well established in Bagan during the reign of King Anawrahta (AD 1044-77), it is possible that Sand Pagoda Festival originated in the time long before the Innwa Period. King Anawrahta built a pagoda “Shwe The Khon” (a&ToJcHk) on the sand bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River. As time went on, its original name “Shwe The Khon” has changed, into “Shwezigon”.