Shite Thaung Temple

MYANMAR, Rakhine, Mrauk U

Shite Thaung means Eighty Thousand Images. It was built by King Min Bin (reigned 1513–1553) of Arakan in 1535 to commemorate his success in a battle and thus it is also known as the Temple of Victory. Successive kings and officials added images to the temple.
The temple is situated on the west side of Pokhuang hill in Mrauk U and there is a 600 m long path that leads from the foot of the hill to the temple. The rectangular temple compound is 48.7 m long and 37.8 m wide. The roof of the temple is surmounted by an 18 m high stone stupa, surrounded by numerous smaller stone stupas of different sizes. The stupas are all bell-shaped.
The interior of the temple consists of an antechamber, a long corridor leading to the main chamber, and three concentric vaulted corridors. The temple resembles a fortress with walls that are 2 m to 5 m thick. The concentric corridors are lined with tens of thousands of Buddhist and Hindu images.
The main chamber houses a 2.1 m high seated statue of the Buddha forming the bhumisparsa (earth-touching) mudra. The inner corridor has 28 niches, each of which contains a seated Buddha statue. The middle corridor has seated Buddha statues on both sides and leads to a rectangular cave-like chamber, in which are enshrined many seated Buddha statues dressed in a variety of royal clothing. The walls of the outermost corridor are covered in reliefs, with the upper register depicting Jataka tales and the Life of the Buddha, and the lower register showing scenes of society at that time. These scenes include drum dances, martial arts, spirit dances, dragon dances, and group dances.