Shitthaung Temple

The large entry room is filled with colorful murals depicting the Buddha and also the history of Mrauk U. The outer corridors contain sculptures that depict scenes of 16th-century Arakan life. The King had these made as a way to preserve the culture through a pictorial history of the time. Different scenes carved into the stone corridor show various Arakan dance styles as well as the stories of the 550 past lives of Buddha. Images of peacocks, cranes, boars, and elephants line the outer corridor walls.

Upon entering the inner chamber, the interior changes from floor to ceiling wall reliefs to large sitting Buddha statues that rest in arched nooks lining the hallway. The passageway snakes around until it finally deadends at a large room that originally served as the King’s meditation chamber.

While most temples in Mrauk U are free to visit, Shitthaung Temple is the only temple that collects a door charge.