Shwenandaw Kyaung

Mandalay

This fine teak monastery-temple is noted for its carvings, particularly the interior gilded scenes from the Jataka (past-life stories of the Buddha). The building once stood within the Mandalay Palace complex as the royal apartment of King Mindon, who died inside it in 1878.

Reputedly unable to cope with Mindon’s ghost, his successor, King Thibaw, had the building dismantled, carted out of the palace complex and reassembled outside the fortress walls, where it was converted into a monastery (1880). It’s a good thing he did, as all other palace buildings were later lost to WWII bombs.

Contact

Address

62nd St at 14th St

Suggest an edit to this attraction

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Mandalay Hill
1.17 MILES
To get a sense of Mandalay’s pancake-flat sprawl, climb the 760ft hill that breaks it. The walk up covered stairways on the hill's southern slope is a…
Mahamuni Paya
4.01 MILES
Every day, thousands of colourfully dressed faithful venerate Mahamuni's 13ft-tall seated buddha, a nationally celebrated image that’s popularly believed…
National Kandawgyi Gardens
22.94 MILES
Founded in 1915 and carved out by Turkish prisoners captured by the British during WWI, this lovingly maintained 435-acre botanical garden features more…
Yankin Hill
3.74 MILES
Staring distantly towards Mandalay Palace, temple-topped Yankin Hill is worth climbing for views of greater Mandalay's rice-field setting and of the Shan…
U-Bein Bridge
8.33 MILES
The world’s longest teak footbridge gently curves 1300yd across shallow Taungthaman Lake, creating one of Myanmar’s most photographed sites. In dry season…
Bagaya Kyaung
14.01 MILES
This lovely 1834 teak monastery is Inwa’s most memorable individual attraction. It's supported on 267 teak posts, the largest 60ft high and 9ft in…
Shwe In Bin Kyaung
3.84 MILES
A meditative departure from the usual Burmese 'douse-it-all-in-gold-and-pastels' aesthetic, this gorgeously carved teak monastery is beloved by tourists…
Soon U Pon Nya Shin Paya
10.3 MILES
This ‘early offering shrine’ is the most important of the temples on Sagaing Hill’s southern crown and the first you’ll come to on climbing the One Lion…

View more attractions

Nearby Mandalay attractions

1. Atumashi Kyaungdawgyi

0.12 MILES

This unusually shaped temple is a series of diminishing stupa-dotted terraces over an arched base decorated with peacock motifs. When built in 1857, it…

2. Kuthodaw Paya

0.33 MILES

Kuthodaw Paya, aka the ‘world’s biggest book’, draws tour-bus crowds to see its 729 slabs that retell the Tripitaka canon, which is effectively part of…

3. Sandamuni Paya

0.36 MILES

At this shrine, you'll find 1774 ensconced marble slabs inscribed with commentaries on the Tripitika (Buddhist scriptures). Along with the stone slabs at…

4. Mandalay Hill Southeast Stairway Entrance

0.48 MILES

Stairway leading to the summit of Mandalay Hill. On average it's a 45-minute hike to the top.

5. Kyauktawgyi Paya

0.57 MILES

At the heart of this large 19th-century complex is a 900-tonne buddha, 26ft tall and dressed in royal attire. Carved from a single block of marble, it…

6. Mandalay Hill Chinthe Entrance

0.65 MILES

The stairway leading to the summit of Mandalay Hill is flanked by two enormous chinthe (mythical lion-like creatures).

7. Standing Buddha

0.83 MILES

This Buddha statue on Mandalay Hill points towards the royal palace.

8. Peshawar Relics

0.83 MILES

Three tiny shards of bone, believed to be Buddha relics, were discovered in 1908 by British archaeologists at the site of a once-great ancient stupa at…

View more attractions

placement: superzone
path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],

targeting:

{
  "url": "myanmar-burma/mandalay/attractions/shwenandaw-kyaung/a/poi-sig/1368798/357092",
  "destination": "Mandalay",
  "continent": "Asia",
  "country": "Myanmar-(Burma)",
  "city": "Mandalay",
  "position": "superzone"
}