Kyat Khayon Cave Monastery

Nanda Pyinnyar Cave - Nanda Mannya Cave Grotto

Useful Information

Location:	Near Bagan
Open:	All year daily. [2020]
Fee:	free, donations welcome. [2020]
Classification:	Cave Church
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	individual tour by a monk
Photography:	allowed, respect privacy
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:
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History

Description

The Kyat Khayon Cave Monastery looks at the first glimpse like all the other monasteries in the area around Bagan, and there is at least a dozen. But this monastery has underground tunnels which were carved out of the rock. Dead end tunnels are used by the monks for meditation, mostly because they have a moderate temperature. It seems even monks have problems to meditate when it is too hot.

The tunnels are not historic and there is no art to be found. This are just tunnels which are used in daily life. The site is actually not a tourist site, the monks are simply friendly and when tourists arrive they are happy to show how they live. This might change in the future if Myanmar opens more for international tourism. Fortunately many visitors are not impressed, because they thought there would be hundreds of golden buddhas. So we can hope this place will stay friendly and welcoming in the future.