Aung Zabu Monastery

Aung Zabu Forest Monastery (Burmese: အောင်ဇမ္ဗူတောရဓမ္မရိပ်သာ; Aung Zabu Tawya Dhamma Yeiktha), commonly known as Japan Paya (Burmese: ဂျပန်ဘုရား) is a Buddhist monastery (kyaung) in Yegya village, Hmawbi Township, Yangon Region, Myanmar (Burma).

Aung Zabu Forest Monastery
အောင်ဇမ္ဗူတောရဓမ္မရိပ်သာ
Religion
AffiliationTheravada Buddhism
Location
CountryHmawbi Township, Yangon Region, Burma
Geographic coordinates17.0778288969°N 96.0835091118°E / 17.0778288969; 96.0835091118

The monastery was opened c. 2012, using the name of a prominent Buddhist retreat centre in Mawlamyine.[1] The monastery is known for a collection of 301 historic Buddha images from the Pagan, Pinnya, Ava, Toungoo, Nyaungyan, Tagaung and Konbaung eras, although the authenticity of these images has not been verified.[1][2][3] The images were donated by a Japanese national named Kumano in 2012.[2] Over 10,000 visitors per week visit the monastery.[4]

Controversies

The monastery has been mired in controversy, criticised for being more a business venture, rather than a religious centre.[1] The monastery grounds now include a shopping arcade, a small zoo, and other attractions.[1] In 2023, the monastery's abbot Paṇḍavaṃsa sparked additional controversy after hosting a lavish 60th birthday celebration at Lotte Hotel in Yangon.[1] He also opened a library, which purportedly doubles as a luxury residence, in Pyin Oo Lwin.[1]

See also

References
  1. "ခေတ်ပျက်သည့်တိုင် စီးပွားရေးသောင်းကျန်းနေသည့် ရန်ကုန်က ဂျပန်ဘုရား". Myanmar NOW (in Burmese). 9 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  2. "Devotees flock to 'Japan Pagoda' in Yangon". Thai PBS. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  3. "Hunting and hoarding treasure". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  4. "Famous Japan Pagoda outside Yangon". Yangon Life. Retrieved 21 October 2018.


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