Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tilawkaguru
CAVE TEMPLE
Accessed from a dead-end road at the southwest base of Sagaing Hill, this mural-filled
cave complex dates originally from 1672. Opening times are sporadic and finding the
key-holder can be challenging.
Sitagu Buddhist Academy
UNIVERSITY
Set up in 1994 to educate the brightest young monks, the academy's centrepiece is a
Sanchi-style hemispherical stupa, gilded and embossed with dharma-wheel patterns. In
the surrounding arcade are photos of Asia's great Buddhist sites, often shown as holiday-
style snaps featuring the university's founder-monk U-Nyan Nate Tara.
Thakya Dita Nunnery
NUNNERY
Modern nunnery with a 16ft, 6in gilded woven-cane Buddha figure in an air-conditioned
glass chamber.
THE MISSING KING
After Inwa-based King Hsinbyushin sacked the then Thai capital, Ayuthaya, in 1767,
he returned with thousands of prisoners who were resettled around Mandalay.
These included skilled artisans (credited with kick-starting many of Mandalay's
great craft traditions) and even the Ayuthayan ex-King Uthumphon who lived loc-
ally for nearly 30 more years as a monk. His final resting place has long been dis-
puted, but in 2013 archaeologists claimed 'with 90% certainty' to have identified
of old bricks backing onto rubbish-strewn waste ground, but according to press re-
ports a Thai-funded $3 million restoration has been mooted.
Town Centre
The flat market area has little charm but further south it's pleasant to cycle along Strand
Rd with a few old
colonial-era buildings
lining its north side and views across to Inwa
from the Ayeyarwady riverfront.
Htuparyon Paya
STUPA
