The entrance fee will reportedly be used for maintenance and conservation. Up to July, 1 visiting Maha Myat Muni Pagoda remains free for foreigners except the K1000 fee for those who want to make pictures on the grounds of the complex.
The pagoda is one of the most popular attractions in Mandalay, Myanmar. Even though, daily it welcomes about 100 overseas visitors only. A Buddhist temple and major pilgrimage site, Maha Muni pagoda was first built in 1785 and then rebuilt after the fire in 1884. The Mahamuni Buddha image housed inside the pagoda is highly venerated in Myanmar. Every February, at the end of the Buddhist Lent, a special 'Mahamuni Paya Pwe' festival is held there.
Other famous destinations in Mandalay, Mandalay Palace, Shwe Kyaung and the Inwa ancient city already charge K10.000 for a joint ticket that includes visiting all the three sites but excludes Maha Muni pagoda. Travel agencies and tourist guides in Mandalay called on the authorities to create a single complex ticket instead that would work similar to the one used in Bagan and cover all attractions within the area.
Following Rohingya crisis of 2015, tourist arrivals to Myanmar have been quite low. In 2018, 500,000 foreign tourists visited Mandalay, mostly Chinese. Tourist arrivals from Europe, including France, Germany and Italy, are still far behind.
Maha Myat Muni Pagoda No Longer Free for Foreigners
News in Asia
The Myanmar Tourism Entrepreneurs Association has announced that effective from July, 1 Mandalay’s famous Maha Myat Muni Pagoda will charge foreign tourists K5000 (an equivalent of about USD3.25) for visiting the agoda.