There are considerable controversies over the King that has build the Dhammayangyi Pahto.
Some sources quote King Narathu (1167? - 1170?), other sources quote the father of King Narathu, Sithu I, who also build Thatbyinnyu. Also on Narathu death legends are contradictory: some attribute its death to 8 murderers disguised by Brahma priests sent by the father of the Indian wife by him murdered, others attribute his death to invaders from Ceylon.

The Dhammayangyi is a pyramidal temple with squared base constituted by a single floor.
The temple is orientated to the east.
The temple was built with maniacal perfection, the legends want that King Narathu would have executed the workers if he would had been able to fit a stick between a brick and the other.

The temple has never been completed, most probably because of Narathu’s death.