Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Thanboddhay Pagoda
11km southeast of Monywa, 1.5km northeast off the Mandalay road •
Templecomplex
open 24hr • Free
Main
shrine
daily 6am-5pm • $3
Builtbetween1939and1952,thezany
ThanboddhayPagoda
isoneofMyanmar'swackiest
temple complexes: a technicolour riot of cartoon shrines, fairytale pagodas and shameless
super-kitsch - enough to make even the most lavish Hollywood film set blush with embar-
rassment. Two huge white stone elephants, each with a small temple on its back, flank the
entrance, setting the tone for what lies inside.
The
mainshrine
isaneye-popping,blood-redaffair,surroundedbyariotofobelisks,lions,
sphinxes and shrines, its roofs spiked with 864 needle-thin mini-stupas, like an architectur-
al pincushion. Its vaguely Neoclassical-looking
interior
is a maze of dark-red arches, with
walls covered in a dense mosaic of (it's claimed) over five hundred thousand tiny Buddha
statues.
Furthershrinesandstructuressurroundthemainbuildingonallsides,includingapea-green
bathingpoolsurroundedbyelephant carvings; astringofmonastic buildingspainted invivid
pastel blues, reds, pinks and greens; and a truly bizarre tower, looking like a cross between a
minaret and a helter-skelter, with a small stupa on top.
Maha Bodhi Tataung
8km east of Thanboddhay Pagoda • Daily 6am-5pm • Free
Even more surreal than the Thanboddhay Pagoda is the nearby
Maha Bodhi Tataung
, a
sprawling religious complex founded in 1960 and dominated by two of the world's biggest
Buddha statues. The name Maha Bodhi Tataung translates as “One Thousand Bodhi [Bo]
Trees” (although there are now over nine thousand in total), and approaching the complex
you'll pass swathes of these trees, each with a seated Buddha below.
