Phowintaung

Phowintaung Cave Complex
ဖိုဝင်တောင်

A Phowintaung Buddha statue with murals
Location within Burma
Basic information
Geographic coordinates 22°02′44.46″N 94°59′3.03″E / 22.0456833°N 94.9841750°E / 22.0456833; 94.9841750
22°02′44″N 94°59′3″E / 22.04556°N 94.98417°E / 22.04556; 94.98417Coordinates: 22°02′44″N 94°59′3″E / 22.04556°N 94.98417°E / 22.04556; 94.98417
Affiliation Theravada Buddhism
Country Myanmar
Completed 14th century

Phowintaung (Burmese: ဖိုဝင်တောင် [pʰo wɪ tàʊɴ], also spelt as Hpowindaung, Powintaung, Po Win Taung) is a Buddhist cave complex located approximately 25 kilometers west of Monywa and 10 kilometers southeast of Yinmabin, in Yinmabin Township, Monywa District, Sagaing Region, Northern Burma (Myanmar). It is located on the western bank of the Chindwin River. The name of the complex means Mountain of Isolated Solitary Meditation.

The complex contains 947 small and large richly decorated caves. It is carved into a sandstone outcrop and contains numerous carved Buddha statues and mural paintings of geometric patterns and Jataka stories. The statues and paintings have been dated to between the 14th and 18th centuries.

Accessibility

It is accessible from Monywa either by direct road over the new bridge or by a ferry across the Chindwin and then taking a jeep at the scenic Nyaungbin village.

Ceiling vault with depiction of Buddha 
Buddha-lined passageway 
Mural paintings 
Buddha statues 
Entrance to one of the caves 
Buddha in Mahaparinibbana pose 
Worshipping the Buddha 

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.