Banana mountain ye: trip to ko yin lay little visited highlight in the south of myanmar
Banana mountain, or banana hill, is the most famous landmark in the vicinity of the town of ye and a unique destination in southern myanmar that is absolutely worth visiting! The banana mountain (burmese: ko yin lay) is a gigantic temple and monastery complex, which impressed my friend and me because of its unusual charm and the pure gigantism.
You can't expect a real mountain at ko yin lay, according to our burmese driver the name banana mountain or banana hill probably comes from the original appearance of the place before the construction of the temple complex started.
In this article, I give you the most important information about banana mountain ye based on a field report including tips on how to get to ye, how long you need to stay at ko yin lay, and what to see on site.
My tip: banana mountain as a stopover on the trip to the south of myanmar
Banana mountain near ye is off the beaten track and still a real myanmar insider tip and a wonderful stopover on a myanmar tour. In my itinerary myanmar 3 weeks I show you how to organize the visit to ye optimally.
So that you can travel relaxed through myanmar, I recommend you to have a look at my packing list myanmar.
Banana mountain ye: sitting buddhas
Banana mountain ye: reclining buddha
1. Places of interest at banana mountain ye
The complex of banana mountain ye is an incredibly large monastery or temple. Temple complex with impressive buddhist buildings. In the center of the complex there is a gigantic reclining buddha, four huge seated buddha images, and a temple and monastery complex that is also quite large.
The buddha images are walkable and also impress inside with unique architecture and gigantism. In addition to these largely completed sights on banana mountain, an immense new temple complex is under construction in the immediate vicinity, the imaginable dimensions of which will dwarf the existing sights.
Reclining buddha at banana mountain and pillared hall
As soon as you arrive at banana mountain the gigantic reclining buddha jumps into your eye. The reclining buddha is smaller than the largest reclining buddha in the world, but impresses in comparison to the win sein taw ya buddha at mawlamyine by its very well-kept exterior and especially by the walk-in pillared hall inside.
The pillared hall is gigantic according to the external appearance, the magnificent dark red pillars are decorated with white elephant heads. While walking through the hall you feel a bit like in another world, because this sight is rather little visited (especially by foreigners).
For a small donation, one can often be blessed by a buddhist monk and receive an additional buddhist lucky bracelet.
Sitting buddhas
At the head of the reclining buddha, a grand staircase leads you up one level to the four gigantic seated buddhas of banana mountain. One buddha faces each of the four cardinal directions. The tower around which the sitting buddhas are built is accessible and inside very worth seeing.
Before you enter the central tower, you are lent a burmese longyi. If you leave a donation when leaving the tower, you will usually receive a buddhist lucky bracelet here as well.
9 floors, magnificently decorated, take you from level to level up to a walk-around balcony from where you get a magnificent view of the entire banana mountain. With all the pomp and circumstance of the complex, one cannot deny a uniquely likeable morbid charm :D.
To the north one looks from above at the monastery, to the east one looks at the hilly surroundings, to the west one sees the gigantic temple complexes under construction, and to the south one looks at the reclining buddha and the residence of the supreme monk of ko yin lay (according to our driver's explanations).
When looking at the strikingly magnificent house in front of the reclining buddha, we were particularly struck by the limousines parked in front of it, the upscale furnishings and the pool in the garden
Other sights at banana mountain ye
North of the sitting buddhas there is a large monastery annex. The monastery complex is also worth seeing, but definitely not the highlight at banana mountain.
Acquaintances told us before our trip to banana mountain that they had very interesting conversations with monks here and that you could get a vegetarian meal here for a donation. However, this was not the case during our excursion to the surroundings of ye, as the monastery complex was deserted except for 2 peacefully sleeping buddhist monks :D.