The palace site

Before visiting any other place in Mrauk U priority should be given to the ruins of the inner palace city where the Royal palace once stood magnificently. The place is surrounded by three wall encirclements. When Mong Saw Mon started buildings the palace. underground canals were first dug. then stone walls were erected and finally the three hills were leveled down. Some of the canals that carried off the water to the Thinghanadi creek to the south of the palace can still be found.

The area of the whole palace was 1.2 square miles and the walls were originally made of brick. King Mong Ba Gree reinforced the palace walls with a new structure of stone in 1531. The height of the walls today averages 12ft and thickness runs about 7ft. Three sites of the palace are guarded with moats. The moats in the east and west are manually made. whereas the southern one is a natural Thinghanadi Creek. The Royal flotilla used to be manned in this very creek. The northern side had buildings for the Queens and also includes the strategically important Haridaung Hill.

The inner enclosure of the palace had all the important structures. From here all teh 48 Kings of the Mrauk U Dynasty reigned with pomp and grandeur. making the country as prosperous as any other city of that era.

The Golden Palace had roofs of five guarded series supported on tall. straight and giant pillars. gilted with gold on a coat of vermillion. The roof was plated with gilding sheets to copper that would reflect the crimson rays of the sun in the early morning. transforming the palace into a fairytale Palace of the Arabian Night awash in gold.

The King’s Palace was essentially a complex of many separate buildings. The King and his attendants stayed in the palace proper whereas the queens. princes and princesses were assigned separate buildings within the palace city.

To the west of the Royal family’s quarters. there were the quarters of the Duty Officer and from there proceeding to the south was the quarter of the Port Officer.

The Thinghanadi creek running across the city offered easy communication with the Lemro river in the east so that the agricultural products and handicrafts from the Lemro made their way into the five central markets of Mrauk U.

Lying side by side with Anuma Lakey south-west of Zina Banaung Pagada is the Laksaykan Lake. This scenic lake is about 100 acres wide and its embankment connecting the two hill ranges has two 12ft high gates. The western gate. know as Laksaykan gate is 24ft long. 17ft high and 8ft wide. In case of an enemy raid from the south of the palace. this gate was to be used flood the lower plains in the north to defer the enemy.