Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It's the two giant Buddhas that really hog the attention, however, particularly the superhu-
man
Laykyun Setkyar
standing Buddha image, bestriding the landscape like some Brobd-
ingnagian colossus and visible for many kilometres in every direction. Built between 1996
and 2008, this is the world's second-tallest statue, rising a massive 116m (or 130m if you in-
cludethebase)-gettingonforthreetimestheheightofNelson'sColumninLondonandout-
strippedonlybythe153m-tallSpringTempleBuddhainHenan,China.Thestatueisactually
hollow, with a 25-storey building concealed inside, each floor decorated with vivid murals.
Thebottomfiveorsostoreysshowthegruesomepunishmentsawaitingsinnersinhell,while
paintings on higher levels become gradually more exalted in subject matter, with depictions
ofthevariousBuddhistheavensatthetopofthestatue-althoughvisitorsareallowedonlyas
far as the sixteenth floor, some way short of nirvana (and slightly below where the Buddha's
belly button would be, if he had one). There's no lift, either, so it's a bit of a climb.
The
recliningBuddha
(completed in 1991) directly in front is only a little less huge, meas-
uring 95m in length. It's also hollow, with entrance via the Buddha's rear (as it were), al-
though there's not much to see inside the gloomy interior bar a hall full of rather battered-
looking Buddhist bas-reliefs. Nearby is the huge gilded
Aung Sakkya Pagoda
(1979), with
fine views of the two statues and surrounding countryside from its terrace. Plans to con-
struct a third supersized Buddha, to be seated on a nearby hillside, are also apparently in the
pipeline.
Pho Win Taung and around
Open access • $2 • Jeeps from Nyaungbin village cost around $20 including waiting time; boats from Monywa
to Nyaungbin cost K2500 each way
Buried deep in the countryside around 25km west of Monywa,
Pho Win Taung
(also trans-
literated as “Hpo Wing Daung”) displays Burmese piety at work upon the landscape - it's
more understated than the nearby Maha Bodhi Tataung but equally memorable. Hundreds of
cave-shrines werecutintothehillside herebetween thefourteenth andeighteenth centuries -
some sources put the number of shrines at exactly 492, although others claim there are actu-
ally more than double that. Many of the “caves” are tiny, with room for just a single Buddha
image; others are larger, decorated with fine Jataka murals (bring a torch) rivalling anything
in Bagan and still retaining much of their original colour after two hundred-plus years.
Getting to the caves is part of the fun. Visiting by hired car from Monywa you'll pass the
chintzy
ShwetaungUPagoda
,worthastopforitssweepingriverandcountrysideviews.Al-
ternatively,hireaboatfromthejettyonStrandRdtocrosstheChindwintobustling
Nyaung-
bin
village from where you can pick up a jeep to take you to the caves.
