Mandalay Royal Palace, the Famed Royal Emerald Palace (Mya Nan San Kyaw in Myanmar), is located in the centre of Mandalay city. The Palace can be easily got in as it is situated in Mandalay which is accessible by air, rail and bus. It is one of the major tourist destinations of Myanmar and is a unique symbol of the ancient , last Myanmar Dynasty.

The last two monarchs of Myanmar, King Mindon and King Thibaw, resided in Mandalay Royal Palace. The old Palace was constructed in February 1857 and was fully completed in May 1859. The four 2 kilometres (6666 ft) long magnificent walls surround the palace compound, a 413 hectare area. A rectangular moat appears before each wall. The moat has 64 metres width and 4.5 metres depth. The palace grounds are pretty clean, massive with well-laid lawns. All the buildings in the compound are 1-storey in height. The significance of the building is differentiated by the number of spires on the roofs. The Great Audience Halls, Watch Tower, Relic Tower, Clock Tower, Lion Throne and court building are pretty impressive.

Unfortunately, the admirable heritage of Myanmar was ruined by Allied bombing in world war II and only the watch tower and the royal mint survived. A replica of the Royal Palace was reconstructed in the 1990 s. Although the original palace was built by using only teak, corrugated sheet metal in roofing and concrete were put in the new palace because of the modern techniques. However, the modern construction materials are not apparent enough to believe that you are in the replica of the old palace due to its faithful overall design of the original one.

Military guards at the entrance of the Palace would make you feel like you are really visiting a royal residence. Tourists can enter only from the eastern entrance and it may take about 20-30 minutes to get to the Palace grounds from the entrance. After you had paid the entrance fees, please keep the ticket for it can also be used as a validation in visiting Mandalay attractions such as Kuthodaw Temple, Golden Palace Monastery, Mandalay Hill and son on.

A tour to Mandalay Royal Palace is one of the fascinating things to do in Mandalay. A gorgeous geometrical layout of the Palace along with the moat can be viewed from the top of Mandalay Hill. To sum up, Mya Nan San Kyaw Royal Palace is a must visit site especially for the first time tourists to Mandalay.

Written By Ms.Nyein Chan Htwe