Atumashi Kyaung Monastery, Mandalay

Atumashi Kyaung is a Buddhist monastery in Mandalay. It is located next door to the Shwenandaw Monastery, and a short distance from the Kuthodaw Pagoda. Atumashi Monastery is often also called Maha Atulawaiyan Kyaungdawgyi, or Incomparable Monastery. It was built by King Mindon (1853-1879) in 1857, a few years after he founded his capital in Mandalay, having shifted 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.

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