133AROUND BAGAN8BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMAR8BAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMARAROUND MONYWAlittle wooden monastery and a few retain
interior murals. Another minor attraction is
the British-era house (62 Seidan St) of the
former village chief. It’s private and still
owned by the charming original family, who
might wind up their gramophone for you or
show off their 1920s sepia photos.
A major attraction is the lovely 15-mile
ride through agricultural villages from
Monywa on a lane that’s narrow but unusu-
ally well asphalted. Around half way look
northeast for brief, distant views.
SOUTHEAST OF MON Y WA
If you’re driving between Mandalay and
Monywa, the following sites can be conve-
niently visited as a short detour en route.
However, if you’re using public transport,
you’d be wiser to visit on a return excursion
from Monywa, costing around K5000/8000
by motorbike/three-wheeler and taking
around three hours.
Thanboddhay Paya BUDDHIST TEMPLE
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(Monye Sambuddhe) The central feature of this
carnivalesque complex is a large mid-20th-
century temple whose unique roof is lay-
ered with rows of gilt mini-stupas. Its fl anks
burst gaudily bright colours and are fl anked
by 30ft-high concrete obelisks set with un-
countable minuscule Buddha shapes. The
multiply arched temple interior (admission
$3; h6am-5pm) is plastered with so many
Buddha images, large and small, that it feels
like you’re walking through a Buddha house
of mirrors. However, while intriguing, you’ll
get the idea in two minutes and some visi-
tors make do with peeping in for free. Than-
boddhay’s kitschfest continues in the sur-
rounding pastel-hued monks’ quarters and
with two huge white concrete elephants at
the site’s gateway. It’s 1.5km off the Manda-
lay road, 10km from Monywa.Bodhi Tataung WORLD’S BIGGEST BUDDHA
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Another 8km east from Thanboddhay, the
name of this vast hillside Buddha-rama
translates as ‘1000 Buddhas’. But for most vis-
itors, only two of them really count. Opened
in 2008, the glimmering 424ft standing
Buddha is claimed to be the world’s tall-
est, and it utterly dominates the landscape
for miles around. Inside the multi-storey
torso, seemingly interminable stairways link
painted galleries, many lower ones depicting
gruesome hell scenes. You might hope that
climbing to Buddha’s head would take you,
artistically at least, to Nirvana. However, so
far at least, visitors’ progress is blocked at
the 16th fl oor, barely half way up. A spiritual
message? The interior closes at 5pm.
Lower down the hillside lounges a slightly
smaller but still enormous 312ft reclining
Buddha. It’s hardly refi ned and the dark in-
terior contains poorly maintained tableaux:
enter through the left buttock.
Note that both giant Buddhas face west,
so for best photos come in the late afternoon.
If you’re feeling inspired, the Bodhi
Tataung site hosts many other minor fasci-
nations, including a whole garden of identi-
cal sitting Buddhas under concrete parasols,
and the gilded 430ft stupa Aung SetkyaAN 11TH-CENTURY LOVE TRIANGLEIn 1056 the King of Bago became a vassal of Bagan’s ascendant ruler, Anawrahta, who
later sent his armies to bolster Bago against the Khmers. Among the tribute gifts that
symbolised the relationship was one of four Buddha hair relics sent to Bagan and now
enshrined within Bagan’s Shwesandaw pagoda. Another ‘gift’ was the King of Bago’s
beautiful daughter Princess Manisanda (aka Khin U). To collect these priceless prizes,
Anawrahta sent his most trusted commanders, the ‘four paladins’, led by his son and
foremost general Kyanzittha. But as they returned Kyanzittha was overcome by temp-
tation for the future queen, kicking off a classic love triangle. Once their aff air was dis-
covered, Kyanzittha was bound and sentenced to death by his furious father. However,
the magic lance that was supposed to execute him instead broke the ropes that bound
him and Kyanzittha made a fairy-tale escape, grabbing the lance and fl eeing in a fi shing
boat. After a series of similarly implausible triumphs against Anawrahta’s search parties,
Kyanzittha settled in Kaungbyu, before fi nally returning to Bagan in 1077, only to rekindle
the aff air with Manisanda. Today, there is some controversy as to where Kaungbyu was,
but Monywa guides are adamant that it was the delightful little village of A Myint (p 132 ).