TOP 7 BEST MUSEUMS IN MYANMAR

The history of Myanmar museums from the earliest such as ancient palaces and Pitaka libraries, through museums established before independence such as Bagan Archaeological Museum, to the most recent-days is described

Currently, Myanmar museums under the Ministry of Culture can be classified as national museums, archaeological museums, regional cultural museums, and memorial museums. Other kinds of museum are now appearing under other ministries and in the private sector in Myanmar. There are a lot of museums in Myanmar but we have handpicked Top 7 Myanmar Museums for you to visit when in Myanmar.

BOGYOKE AUNG SAN MUSEUM

Address : 25 Bo Gyoke Museum Ln, Yangon, Myanmar
Phone: +95 1 345 651
Opening hours: 9:30AM – 4:30AM ( Closed on Monday )
Admission fee: US $3.00 / ticket

The Bogyoke Memorial Museum was established in his honor in 1962, and it is well known as the “Bogyoke Aung San Museum”. Bogyoke in Myanmar is a term used for General. The museum was the home of the General before he was assassinated. It was known as a colonial-era villa and was built in 1921 and Bogyoke stayed there with his family, wife Daw Khin Kyi, sons, Aung San Oo and Aung San Lin, and daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, about two years before his assassination. It is located at No.15, Bogyoke Museum Lane, Bahan Township, where Aung San Suu Kyi grew up as a child. As Myanmar people admired him so much, they always come to visit there, especially on his birthday – February 13; many people visit with great memorized feeling than other days. In this year Bogyoke’s 101st Birthday, there were about 800 people who visited Bogyoke Museum and museum authorities said it was more people than they have seen in previous years.

Bogyoke Museum, which is surrounded by big old trees, is quiet and peaceful. The Museum and grounds are influenced by Bogyoke’s life, such as his equipage, family living styles, great photos, his activities and his personal belongings in the Museum. One of the first things you will see as you enter the grounds is the car used by General Aung San. Visiting the museum in tours to Burma, go inside the museum you will see the household furniture set up as it was during the time Bogyoke lived there.

NATIONAL MUSEUM

Address: 66 Pyay Road, Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar
Phone: +95 1 378 652
Opening hours: 9:30AM – 4:30AM ( Closed on Monday )
Admission fee: US $4.00 / ticket

The National Museum in Yangon is an interesting place where Myanmar’s ancient heritage and culture are on display. It was established in 1952 and it is an imposing 5 story building and the exhibits cover 194800 sq.ft. There are over 4000 items on display, and more than 30 have detailed audio explanations in Myanmar, English, Japanese and Chinese. The museum has a rich collection of art and material culture of the indigenous people of Myanmar, royal regalia, musical instruments, decorative arts, and two art gallery.

U THANT HOUSE

Address: No.31, Panwa Lane (enter from, Inya Rd, Yangon, Myanmar
Phone : +95 9 321 00785
Opening hours: 10am – 5pm ( Closed on Monday and Tuesday )
Admission fee: US $5.00 / ticket

One of Myanmar’s most respected international politicians, U Thant was UN Secretary General from 1961 to 1971. When his grandson, Thant Myint-U, discovered his house in the old Windermere estate area in 2012, the place was a wreck. It has since been beautifully restored by the family, with help from the Yangon Heritage Trust and others, and stands as a fitting memorial to U Thant.

Fascinating archival photographs hang in the house, showing U Thant with the great and good of the era – everyone from Nikita Khrushchev to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. There’s also some video footage of him giving speeches. The house and its gardens are used for lectures and events.

MUSMEAH YESHUA SYNAGOGUE

Address: 26th St, Yangon, Myanmar
Phone : +95 1 252 814
Opening hours: 9:30AM – 2:30PM ( Closed on Sunday)
Admission fee: FREE

Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue is the last remaining Jewish house of worship in Downtown Yangon and Burma’s only synagogue. The synagogue stands between Indian paint shops and Muslim traders on a small street near the city centre. A plaque at the entrance of the building states that the present stone building, which was built between 1893 – 1896, replaced an earlier, smaller wooden structure that was erected in 1854. It is one of 188 sites on the Yangon City Development Council’s list of Heritage Buildings. It serves the few remaining Jews of the country, mostly descendants of Baghdadi Jews from Iraq.

On June 6, 2016, Yangon Heritage Trust and Yangon Regional Government “awarded a commemorative blue heritage plaque to Yangon’s only Synagogue” to remember the Jewish community who lived in Yangon for many generations and to recognize the diverse faiths still alive in the city today.

MYANMAR GEMS MUSEUM

Address: No.66, Gabaaye Pagoda Road, Yangon, Myanmar
Phone : +95 1 665 115
Opening hours: 9:30AM – 5:00PM (Closed on Monday)
Admission fee: US $5.00 / ticket

Myanmar Gems Museum, in Yangon, Myanmar, is a museum dedicated to precious Burmese gem stones. The museum is located on the third floor of a four-story building, located near Kaba Aye Pagoda.

The Gems Mart at the Gems Museum consists of 82 stores on three floors, and sells high-quality raw and finished gem products, offering rubies, sapphires, pearls, jade and more. The mart is open from 9 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday. The museum building is the site of semi-annual Myanmar Gems Emporium, attended by gems and jewellery merchants from around the world.

BAGAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Address: Old Bagan, Myanmar
Opening hours: 8:00PM : 4:30PM
Admission fee: US $5.00 / ticket

The Bagan Archaeological Museum was opened on 17th April 1998 in the world renowned ancient city Bagan, in Mandalay Division, Upper Myanmar. It is situated near the Gawdawt Palin Pagoda.

The first archaeology museum in the true sense of the term was built near the northern covered cause way of Ananda Temple in 1904, in a very modest way. A small oblong one storey brick building of 60 feet by 30 feet in which some ancient stone inscriptions, Buddha images and other cultural objects collected from the Bagan area were haphazardly displayed. After some years as a large number of new art objects and antiquities were added, the museum looked like an overstocked storehouse.

Visitors to Bagan have now two grand museums. The entire area of 16 square miles of Bagan Archaeological Zone itself is a field museum of nearly ten centuries old and a splendid modern museum of very recent time.

DEFENSE SERVICES MUSEUM

Address: Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
Opening hours: 9:00AM – 4:00PM (Closed on Monday)
Admission fee: US $5.00 / ticket

The Defence Services Museum (Naypyidaw) in Zeyathiri Township is on an area of 603.68 acres. It is opened to enable the youth and people to learn the independence struggles, historic battles and actions of the Armed Forces since its birth in 1945 till now, and to imbue the spirit to safeguard the independence.

There are six booths of the Armed Force, three booths of the Navy and three booths of the Air, and one Guest Lounge each of the Armed Force, Navy and Air Force as well as corridors and rest halls with restaurants and souvenir shops.

In the museum, there can be seen the royal items used by ancient Myanmar kings, ancient and present time Myanmar military equipment, the items used by patriotic leaders in their independence struggles , furniture used by the Thirty Comrades while taking an oath of allegiance by drinking blood, the items used by patriotic leaders in their independence struggles, mementoes from foreign countries, the ancient Myanmar heroes’ statues, international relations with foreign countries, documentary photos and pictures and facts about the Tatmadaw from its birth to the present time and Military Archive.