Many legends are associated with this mountain including its dubious creation from a great earthquake and the mountain erupted out of the ground in 442 BC. It is possible that the legends about Nats represent a heritage of earlier animist religions in Burmese countryside, which were syncreticised with Buddhist religion in the 11th century. Mount Popa is considered the abode of Burma’s most powerful Nats and as such is the most important Nat worship center. It has therefore been called Burma’s Mount Olympus.