Sri Ksetra

Sri Ksetra was the largest of the Pyu city states, occupied from roughly the fourth to the ninth century, and its walls enclose a circuit of some thirteen kilometres of what is now farmland and scrub. It was inscribed in 2014 as part of Pyu Ancient Cities together with Halin and Beikthano, the first World Heritage listing in the country. What stands are the great cylindrical brick stupas - Bawbawgyi, Payagyi, Payama - a few gates and palace foundations, and a small site museum holding the urns, coins and inscriptions that establish the chronology.

What you actually see

• Bawbawgyi Paya - a cylindrical brick stupa around forty-six metres tall, the defining Pyu form.
• Payagyi and Payama - two more early stupas standing isolated in the fields.
• The city walls and gates - a circuit of some thirteen kilometres of earth and brick defences.
• The site museum - burial urns, silver coins and stone inscriptions from the excavations.

When to go

November to February is dry and cool enough to move around a site with almost no shade. March to May is very hot. The monsoon makes the tracks between monuments muddy and some become hard to reach.

Honest expectations

The monuments are scattered across farmland with long gaps between them, and a horse cart or a car is needed rather than walking. There is little interpretation on the ground and the museum is small. Anyone expecting Bagan will find this much emptier and much older.

Nearby

Pyay is twenty minutes west on the Ayeyarwady, with the Shwesandaw pagoda in the town.