U Kyaw Myo Win, deputy director of the department, said the restoration work started Friday on the wall of Sri Ksetra city located on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River in Bago.





Heavy rains caused a 15-metre section of the wall to collapse last month, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture provided funds for the repair work.

“The repairs will cost K10 million (US$6500),” U Kyaw Myo Win said.

As Sri Ksetra is a World Heritage Site, officials will follow UNESCO standards to repair the wall – which is two metres high and 38 centimetres thick – using bale fruit paste, red brick dust and molasses.

Regular maintenance work is needed to prevent the wall from collapsing again, archaeologists said.

Sir Ksetra, or Tharay-khit-taya, is one of the three ancient Phyu cities, along with Beikthano-Myo and Halin, which were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2014.

The Phyu settlement occupied several sites across northern Myanmar, with Sri Ksetra considered the largest, with an area of at least 1477 hectares enclosed by a wall.

Sri Ksetra was initially believed to have existed between the seventh and ninth centuries AD, but recent studies indicated the settlement may have existed centuries earlier.