Your base for exploring this tourist attraction is the heritage city of Mandalay. For travel information about Mandalay, go to Mandalay Travel Guide. To prepare for a trip to Myanmar, read also the Myanmar Travel Guide. Looking for budget accommodation there? Use AsiaExplorers Budget Accommodation Guide, the no-frills website to cover your budget accommodation needs.
The Atumashi Kyaung (Atumashi Monastery) is located next door to the Shwenandaw, and a short distance from the Kuthodaw Pagoda. It also called Maha Atulawaiyan Kyaungdawgyi, or Incomparable Monastery. King Mindon (1853-1879) built Atumashi Kyaung in 1857 a few years after he founded his capital in Mandalay, moving it from Amarapura.
The impressive stairway of Atumashi Kyaung, in Mandalay, Myanmar.
The Atumashi Kyaung was one of King Mindon's last great religious construction project. Instead of the graduated wooden spires called "pyatthat" or the multi-roof design of traditional Burmese monastic buildings, the Atumashi was a great structure surrounded by five graduated rectangular terraces. Within it was treasure worth a king's ransom, including a 9 m (30 ft) high Buddha which was clothed in silk and coated with lacquer.
The Buddha has a huge diamond set in its forehead. There were four complete sets of the Buddhist scriptures (called Tipitaka in Pali, Tripitaka in Sanskrit) in their teak boxes. Unfortunately, a big fire broke out in 1890 that took with it all of Atumashi Kyaung's valuable contents.
For years thereafter the ruins of Atumashi Kyaung lay exposed to the elements, including the charred teak pillars, grand staircase and colonnaded walls. It was only in the 1990's that plans were afoot to rebuild the Atumashi Kyaung. The Burmese Archaeological Department embarked on the reconstruction in 1996 using convict labour. Although the reconstructed Atumashi Kyang looked impressive, it does not come close to recreating the magnificence of the original building.
Exploring Mandalay and its surroundings
Mandalay was the capital of the old Burmese kingdom. There are lots of sights within Mandalay as well as in the cities nearby that are worth visiting. Click enter to view.
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