Burma/ Myanmar: A Buddhist monk and two young novices stand outside the Queen's Golden Monastery in Mandalay Palace, c.1920s.

The Queen's Golden Monastery was constructed on the orders of Queen Supayalat in 1885. It was barely completed when she was exiled to India with her husband Thibaw, the last king of Burma (r. 1878-1885), following the annexation of Upper Burma by the British Empire. Now destroyed, the monastery stood inside the Mandalay Palace grounds and was a magnificent wooden building lavishly decorated with ornate woodcarving and mirrored glass mosaics.

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