Shwenandaw Buddhist Temple

The Shwenandaw monastery (also known as the 'Golden Palace Monastery') is the most significant of Mandalay's historic buildings as it is the sole major survivor of the former wooden Royal Palace built by King Mindon in the mid-nineteenth century. It is deemed a masterpiece of the wood-carver's art and is a large multi-tiered building with four separate zei-ta-wun roof levels.

Although Myanmar is home to countless pagodas and temples, few are as beautiful and unique as the Shwenandaw Buddhist Temple. The entire structure is made of intricately carved wood, with thousands of detailed motifs adorning the walls both inside and out. While it’s showing a bit of wear and dirt over time, its beauty still shines through. This extraordinary temple is a true gem and absolutely worth a visit.

The wooden creaking monastry! There’s a decent entry ticket, get one if you have time, because then you need to cherish the wooden delicate detailed carvings! This place can get crowded, so being patient again will get you clear beautiful clicks and memorable moments!

I recently visited Shwenandaw Monastery, one of the most stunning and historically significant wooden temples in Mandalay. Known for its intricate teak carvings and deep cultural significance, this place offers a glimpse into Myanmar’s royal past and Buddhist heritage. The temple is famous for its detailed teak wood carvings, showcasing traditional Burmese craftsmanship.

Very old and ancient wooden monastery. Recommend to visit the place early in the morning or if not possible during lunch time to avoid loud and rude travel groups. The place is worth to stay quiet to enjoy the old art. There is a entrance fee of 10000 Kyats.

In the land of one million pagodas, Shwenandaw stands out not because of its size or gold ornaments, but because of the material that was used to build it, namely wood. Given that the wood or the veneer that covered it have not been maintained for a long time gives the place extra character, not that it lacked it in the first place. If there is a pagoda that you cannot pass up in Mandalay, let it be this one. It's relatively small and you won't need to allocate that much time to visit it, unless you want to.

A east west dirctions, wooden monastery. So that you might see the sun light through the windows shining on buddha statues and inside rooms. I thing here is the one to make ticket worthy.

Even though this monastery does not have the gold glitter like many pagodas in Myanmar, the intricate teak wood carving is exquisite! This is a rare jewel that gives us a window to Myanmar glorious royal past. It's quite popular with the local ladies for photos ops 😊