Outrage is growing in Myanmar after the emergence of a 12-minute pornographic video shot in Bagan, the country’s best-known tourist spot and Unesco heritage site featuring thousands of revered Buddhist pagodas.

The video was posted on PornHub by users who described themselves as a 23-year-old Italian couple.

The couple’s naked antics against the backdrop of one of Bagan’s ancient pagodas have provoked an angry reaction in Myanmar, with condemnation spreading online.

“Our Bagan pagodas are the Holy Land,” wrote Mg Khin Gyi on Facebook with multiple angry emojis.

The video had been viewed nearly a quarter of a million times by Thursday evening – but had registered twice as many dislikes as likes.

The managing director of New Fantastic Asia tour company, Tun Tun Naing, questioned what seemed to be “negligent” security at Bagan and called for action.

Myo Yee, the Mandalay chairman of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association, added his voice to the rising clamour, saying the case was bad news for an industry hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

“It’s a difficult time for us because not many tourists are coming here,” he told AFP.