Monywa

Monywa lies on the banks of the Chindwin River 140 km- northwest of Mandalay. It is the gateway for excursions to the cave temples of PHowin Taung, situated across the river and reached by ferry. The caves are famous for their Buddha statues, mural paintings and woodcarvings and supposed to have been over 400, 000 Buddha images carved out in the caves. Thambuddhay Pagoda is another highly important attraction completed in 1951 after 12 years of construction with over 800 small Buddha stupas on and around the pagoda. There are also reportedly 582, 357 Buddha statues on the celling, walls , archways and the niches in an on the temple compound.