'Exclusive Travel Experience with Myanmar Tourism Services'

Mrauk U
Mrauk U, an ancient capital city dates back in the 15th century. A five hour trip up-river from Sittwe to Mrauk U starts at dawn. You can enjoy beautiful landscapes along the river. Mrauk U was a thriving city in the 12th and 16 centuries with a complex network of canals. The people are very warm and amicable. Sebastian Martinique was a Portuguese missionary of the Augustinian Order, who went to Rakhine in 1630 and stayed there for about five years. Rakhine it that time was virtually an independent Kingdom with King Thirithudammaraza on the throne. Manique described the then Mrauk U as follows: This great city is built in a beautiful valley about fifteen Leagues in circuit and entirely surrounded by high rough mountains, walls of nature's make and dispending with artificial ones. On the inside these mountains have been leveled in necessary parts with rammers and where they have been cut through from top to bottom, gates have been erected for going in and out , whilst above them are some bulwarks provided with artillery, so that the city would naturally be impregnable as if it belonged to another warlike nation.



Andaw Thein Pagoda
The Andaw pagoda was originally built by king Min Hla Raza in 1521, to enshrine the Buddha tooth relic brought from Sri Lanka by King Minbin. It was later rebuilt by King Min Ra Zagyi in 1596. There are only two concentric passageways Lived with Buddha niches. The eight-sided pillar supports the roof at the inner most are of the shrine. The unique store carvings and Floral designs can still be observed.

 

Shitthaung Temple
The most complex and well preserved of the surviving Mraku U temples, shitthaung Temple was constructed in 1535 by King Minbib, the most powerful of the Rakhine kings. Its name means “shrine of 80,000 Images”, a reference to the number of holy images found inside. A maze-like floor plan, which vaguely resembles a square cornered pinwheel, suggests the shrine was originally used for Tantric-like initiation rituals. A walk through each of the interior passages sets of formulaic Buddhais messages carved in sandstone on the walls. With its think walls, tiny windows and commanding views of the surroundings area, the temple amy have also serves as a royal fortress during times of attack.

Koethaung Temple
It is built in 1553. At one corner of the 77 m square base, five tiers of tiny stupa have been resrored. In the center of the enclosure, a stupa shelters four Buddha images but it is the thousands of sham Buddha bas-reliefs on the walls of the outer passage which make the temple so interesting.

Dukkathein Temple
It is constructed in 1571 by Kin Minphalaung. Wide stone stairways lead up the eastern and southern sides of the tall base. Simple dome-shaped stupa, similar to those at Shitthaung Temple, stand atop receding terraces over a large, slpoe side sanctuary. The cloisters are lined with 146 Buddhist niches, along with sandstone relifes depicting 64 different types of hairstyle for the wives of Mrauk U nobility. A tall entrance on the east side admits light into this interior chamber.

Laymyethnar Temple
It is built in 1430 and the name means four-faced pagoda. The squat, square base has four entrance projections, topped by small stupas at the four corners around a stubby central stupa. Inside there is a circular passageway with eight Buddha images facing out I eight directions while twenty inches shelter images facing in wards.

Pitaka Taik
It was built in 1591, under King Minphalaung, as a repository for the Tripitaka (Three Baskets: the Buddhist canon): only a few of the 48 such Mrauk U period libraries have survived. Originally, it is contained 30 pitaka (scripture collection) sets brough from Sri Lanka in the mid 17th Century, though at the moment it contains a pile of brick rubble.