Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

3031 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Early modern · Buddhist · Myanmar

Mingun Pahtodawgyi

Mingun, Sagaing Region · 22.0508°, 96.0175°

Gautama BuddhaBodawpaya
Sacred since
1790 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
begun 1790 (Bodawpaya), never completed
Bodawpaya

History & significance

A colossal brick stupa about 10 km northwest of Mandalay, begun by King Bodawpaya in 1790 and deliberately left unfinished; a small shrine with a Buddha image on the site is still used for worship.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

It was said locally that the country would be lost, or in another telling the king would die, the moment the pagoda was completed, so the work was slowed and then abandoned.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Bodawpaya