Thanboddhay Pagoda

Thanboddhay was built from 1939 and is unlike anything else in the country: a squat, brightly coloured complex bristling with hundreds of small stupas on its roofs, and an interior in which every surface - walls, ceilings, pillars, niches - is covered with small Buddha images. The number is usually given as over half a million, which is a temple claim rather than a count, but the effect of standing inside is not exaggerated by anyone. The colour scheme is loud, the geometry is dense, and there is nothing restrained about it.

History

The monk Thambuddhei Sayadaw, inspired by Borobudur, began the temple on 20 June 1939 on the site of a 14th-century monastery, and local devotees paid for it until it was finished on 2 March 1952; it holds over 580,000 Buddha images (Wikipedia, Thanboddhay Pagoda).

What's there

• The interior - walls, pillars and ceilings covered entirely with small Buddha images.
• The roofline - hundreds of miniature stupas covering the upper structure.
• The colour - pink, yellow and green paintwork applied without restraint.
• The grounds - a compound of smaller shrines and a tall standing Buddha nearby.

When to go

November to February is the comfortable season; the Monywa plain is exceptionally hot from March to May. Mornings are best. The interior is dim and photographs need a steady hand rather than a flash.

Good to know

The half-million figure is repeated everywhere and has never been verified. Shoes off, and the surrounding compound is hot and dusty. Taste is a factor here: some visitors find it magnificent and some find it garish, and both reactions are common.

Nearby

Bodhi Tataung and its standing Buddha are a short drive east, and Monywa is fifteen minutes northwest.

Key facts