Bagan Golden Palace


Following similar government-mandated palace reconstruction jobs in Bago, Mandalay and Shwebo, this towering concrete-and-steel-reinforced edifice was opened to much fanfare in 2008. Built opposite the excavated site of the actual palace just in from Tharabar Gate, it’s unlikely to bear much resemblance to the original. Either way, it’s a sign of the ongoing Disneyfication of Bagan.


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1. Palace Site

0.01 MILES

There's very little left of Bagan's original palace complex. Just a few bits of wall protruding out of the ground and a few lumps and bumps indicating…

2. Tharabar Gate

0.12 MILES

Do stop on the eastern side of this former entrance to the original palace site. The gate is the best-preserved remains of the 9th-century wall and the…

3. Pitaka Taik

0.18 MILES

Following the sacking of Thaton, King Anawrahta is said to have carted off some 30 elephant-loads of Buddhist scriptures in 1058 and built this library …

4. Mahabodhi Paya

0.23 MILES

Unlike any other Bagan temple, this monument, located on the north side of the main road 1000ft west of the gate, is modelled after the famous Mahabodhi…

5. Shwegugyi

0.24 MILES

Built by Alaungsithu in 1131, this smaller but elegant pahto (temple), 650ft north of Thatbyinnyu, is an example of Bagan’s middle period of temple…

6. Ananda Ok Kyaung

0.27 MILES

Just west of Ananda, this small vihara (sanctuary or chapel), built in 1137, features some detailed 18th-century murals bursting with bright red and green…

7. Ananda Pahto

0.27 MILES

With its 170ft-high, gold corn-cob hti (decorated pinnacle) shimmering across the plains, Ananda is one of the finest, largest, best-preserved and most…

8. Thatbyinnyu Pahto

0.34 MILES

Named for ‘omniscience’, Bagan’s highest temple is built of two boxy white-coloured storeys, each with three diminishing terraces rimmed with spires and…