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 displayed in his former monastery, which is housed in a grand, century-old British colonial mansion just north of the centre. The dusty, eclectic museum contains cases of old banknotes, buddhas, votives (candleholders) and coins from the Mrauk U and other ancient periods, plus many bone relics of head monks, kept in small tins.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
2.67 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…
0.74 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
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…
0.79 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…
0.7 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…
0.68 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…
0.98 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…
0.5 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 attractions
0.5 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…
0.62 MILES
Sittwe's old clock tower is more notable than its newer counterpart and is close to the market.
0.68 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…
0.7 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…
5. Rakhine State Cultural Museum
0.74 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…
0.79 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…
0.98 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…