Completed 1131
Merit of King Alaung Sithu (r. 1112-1166)
It was also known as Nan Oo Paya or the Temple at the Head of the Palace, situated as it is on the edge of the old palace site and believed to be a shrine room and library of the donor king. It is single-storey temple but set on a high platform so that the slender spire soars taller. The stucco work is delicate and intricate. Interior stairways lead to the upper terraces. The thick teak doors with relief carvings are beautiful.
A stone inscription in Pali stated that construction began in April and was completed by November of 1131. The inscription with 100 verses in Pali records the king’s dedication to Buddhism, and noting the number of his young white female-elephants, his young black female-elephants, and his numerous boats; Alaung Sithu was a great traveler.
His payer in the dedication was that “The three immortal states Greed, Anger and Delusion – rooted all in self Omay they die, whenever born
in me”.
When he was old and ill, this much-loved king was smothered to death inside this temple by his son Narathu. The murderer king would be assassinated within three years by a vengeful Maharajah of India whose daughter Narathu also killed.