You can’t miss this big golden pagoda between the airport and the city centre. Its cavernous gilded worship hall, held aloft by decorated pillars, is pretty spectacular. On the western side of the compound is a small ordination hall, which houses the intriguing Sachamuni Image, a bronze buddha with its surface entirely encrusted with mini-buddhas. Apparently the image dates from 24 BC and is said to have been found by Mrauk U fishermen.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
2.2 MILES
Strand Rd leads about 1.5 miles south to a location called View Point, a paved urban park with a small lighthouse built over the point where the Kaladan…
1.33 MILES
This impressive 1859 building – the oldest mosque in Sittwe – could have been lifted out of the pages of Arabian Nights. Sadly, since the 2012 sectarian…
1.55 MILES
Focused on the 1956 municipal market building, Sittwe's market has lots of action from dawn to noon and beyond – it’s well worth popping by before your…
1.12 MILES
Partly housed in a picturesque, ramshackle colonial-era building on a backstreet, this was the monastery of U Ashin Ottama (1880–1939), a leader of the…
1.23 MILES
Hundreds of noisy fruit bats migrate from these trees on Main Rd every evening at dusk, having spent the day jostling with crows for space in the trees…
1.35 MILES
This museum is grand looking from the outside, but much less so inside, and features two floors of dusty Rakhine cultural goodies. On the 1st floor are…
1.8 MILES
Monk U Bhaddanta Wannita spent 49 years collecting old coins and buddha images from monasteries to protect them from thieves. Some of his collection is…
1.61 MILES
A few blocks north of the main market is the Rice Market, with tiny lanes between the Kaladan River and Strand Rd filled with simple wooden homes where…
Nearby Rakhine State attractions
1.12 MILES
Partly housed in a picturesque, ramshackle colonial-era building on a backstreet, this was the monastery of U Ashin Ottama (1880–1939), a leader of the…
1.23 MILES
Hundreds of noisy fruit bats migrate from these trees on Main Rd every evening at dusk, having spent the day jostling with crows for space in the trees…
1.33 MILES
This impressive 1859 building – the oldest mosque in Sittwe – could have been lifted out of the pages of Arabian Nights. Sadly, since the 2012 sectarian…
6. Rakhine State Cultural Museum
1.35 MILES
This museum is grand looking from the outside, but much less so inside, and features two floors of dusty Rakhine cultural goodies. On the 1st floor are…
1.4 MILES
Sittwe's old clock tower is more notable than its newer counterpart and is close to the market.
1.55 MILES
Focused on the 1956 municipal market building, Sittwe's market has lots of action from dawn to noon and beyond – it’s well worth popping by before your…