The Forgotten Ruins of Mrauk U

Spread across the beautiful rolling hills of Rakhine inwards Western Burma , lies a piddling known archeological site—the medieval town of Mrauk U. Once the uppercase of the powerful Arakan empire where Portuguese , Dutch together with French traders rubbed shoulders with the scholars of Bengal together with Mughal princes on the run , Mrauk U is straight off a sleepy hamlet where caprine animal herders tend to their animals , farmers run their fields together with women fetch H2O from the wells located alongside the hundreds of old temples together with Buddhist pagodas that the Kings of Mrauk U erected during the city’s heydays.

mrauk-u-10 Bagan , but dissimilar Bagan , Mrauk U isn’t swarmed with tourists. This is because the house is non tardily to reach. There’s no airdrome , together with the exclusively agency to larn at that spot is past times a boat , which takes almost vii to 8 hours.

One affair that sets Mrauk U apart from other pop archeological sites is the local life hither that runs correct inwards the view of this historical site.

Travel author Robert Reid describes his see to Mrauk U inwards a BBC article:

Here , the ruins are only a backdrop to everyday life. Streams of immature women fill upwardly tin pots at temple-side wells together with accept brusk cuts over cracked pagoda steps to farms sandwiched betwixt 500-year-old stupas. Elders crouch below trees , amid smoking turn down piles together with caprine animal herds.

Another departure betwixt Bagan together with Mrauk U is that dissimilar inwards Bagan , none of the temples inwards Mrauk U are shut , together with tin endure explored within out. Although at that spot are far to a greater extent than temples inwards Bagan than inwards Mrauk U , the views from the surrounding hills are no less breathtaking. The temples are also different to those inwards Bagan , made of hewn rock bricks rather than mud together with brick. Some of the temples were built similar bunkers with thick enterprise walls , together with were in all probability used every bit places of refuge during times of war.

Being the one-time uppercase of the Arakan empire , Mrauk U was surrounded past times long defensive walls together with moats , at the midpoint of which stood the Royal Palace. Very piddling of the palace remains today.

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