Photos: A look at Myanmar's majestic temple city of Bagan

Hundreds of centuries-old Buddhist pagodas rise at the former regional empire

Last updated: July 13, 2024 | 09:00

Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor and with inputs from AFP

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The Dhammayazaka Pagoda in Bagan. The domes and spires of Myanmar's temple city of Bagan mark an island of calm in the country's raging civil war, but with conflict keeping tourists away, locals struggle to make ends meet.

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The Shwesandaw pagoda. The UNESCO World Heritage site on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River became a travel showpiece in 2011 when decades of military rule were relaxed.

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Myanmar became popular with travellers seeking a destination away from the well-trodden backpacker haunts of Southeast Asia.

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Buddhist novice nuns visiting Sulamani temple. But the coronavirus pandemic battered the tourism industry, and then, in February 2021, the military seized power again.

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People visiting Bupaya Pagoda. According to figures from the tourism ministry, around 200,000 international visitors came to Myanmar in the year following the coup. Five years earlier, the figure was 3.4 million.

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Hundreds of centuries-old Buddhist pagodas rise from the dusty earth around Bagan, once the capital of a regional empire.

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The Ananda Temple. The 50-square-kilometre site is also strewn with stupas, temples, murals and sculptures, some dating back to the 11th to 13th centuries.

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People riding past Tharabar Gate. But many hotels and restaurants are shuttered, and guides and vendors are out of work.

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There were as many souvenir vendors as visitors on a hill usually thronged with tourists watching the evening shadows lengthen over the old city.

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The Shwesandaw pagoda. As sanctions bite and the local kyat currency plunges against the dollar, the isolated junta says it wants more international tourists to bring their money to Myanmar.

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The Sulamani temple. According to an official at the junta's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, foreign tourist arrivals in 2023 reached over one million, up from around 200,000 the previous year.

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The Myauk Gun temple. Neighbouring Thailand saw about 28 million people visit in the same year. According to state media, most arrivals to Myanmar in 2023 were from China and Thailand.

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That Bin Nyu temple. The junta also wants travellers from its major ally, Russia, and has said it is working to allow payments using Mir, Russia's domestic card payment system.

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That Bin Nyu temple in Bagan in Myanmar's central Mandalay Region.

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