Page 130 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

128 The DelTa anD wesTern MyanMar Mrauk u and around
The prayer hall and central shrine
At the top of the stairs, entry is via a small vestibule where tickets are issued and
guidebooks sold (walking straight through the vestibule and exiting via the rear door
brings you out right next to the Andaw Thein). Turn left into the colourful modern
prayer hall, with gilded Buddhas stacked up around the walls and bright ceiling
paintings overhead. An elaborate stone door directly ahead of you (as you enter the
hall) leads into a central shrine with a large gilded Buddha, its body patterned with
2 squares of gold leaf applied by worshippers.
The corridors
Shittaung’s real highlight, however, is the pair of marvellously atmospheric corridors
reached via doors in the far left corner of the prayer hall. The inner corridor, walled
with roughly hewn sandstone and lined with dozens of Buddhas, coils round on itself
before reaching a dead end, with tiny openings in the walls offering glimpses of the
main prayer hall and outer corridor.
Even more impressive is the outer corridor, however, more than 100m long and lined
with a spectacularly intricate stone frieze decorated with more than a thousand
sculptures. The frieze is divided into six levels, alternately projecting and recessed, with
faded paint covering many surfaces. Carvings depict the usual Jataka scenes and
miscellaneous mythical monsters along with figures from Rakhine life (musicians,
dancers, soldiers). Larger projecting sculptures include King Minbin himself (in the
southwest corner), Indra mounted on his three-headed elephant Erawan, and Brahma
astride his hamsa.
Htukkanthein Paya
• Daily 7am–5.30pm • Entry covered by main temple ticket
The Htukkanthein (or “Dukkanthein”) Paya is the most memorable of all Mrauk U’s
temples, and the perfect example of the town’s distinctive architectural style: a huge
mass of brick and stone virtually unrelieved by any kind of decoration and looking
more like a fortress, high-security prison or nuclear bomb shelter than anything
remotely religious. The temple’s defensive qualities are enhanced by its setting on a
high, almost sheer-sided, terrace, with just a single entrance – even the tiny square
windows look like embrasures for cannons rather than sources of light.
Built in 1571 by King Min Phalaung, the U-shaped temple itself is linked to a small
rectangular shrine at the back and topped with five “mushroom” stupas in a quincunx
pattern (or almost). Most of the interior is occupied by a remarkable corridor, which
loops around on itself twice and connects two interior chambers before climbing up to
the barn-like rooftop shrine. Lining the corridor are 179 seated Buddha images in
niches, each flanked by carved male and female figures said to represent the donors
who financed construction of the temple. The figures are famous for modelling all
64 of medieval Mrauk U’s traditional hairstyles, most of which seem to involve big
topknot and turban-style arrangements – not a million miles away from the
mushroom-shaped caps on the stupas outside.
Like a number of Mrauk U temples, this one suffers from some poorly executed
renovation work, carried out by the former military government using big dollops
of cement.

Lemyethna Paya
• Daily 7am–5.30pm • Entry covered by main temple ticket
Next to the road just past the Htukkanthein, the small Lemyethna Paya was built in
1430 by King Min Saw Mon. Outside, it’s another of Mrauk U’s characteristically
impregnable constructions: a windowless bunker topped with a stupa with cut-off
spire. Four entrances lead into the circular interior, with eight seated Buddhas placed
around the central octagonal pillar beneath a vaulted ceiling.

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