Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue, Jewish temple in downtown Yangon, Myanmar
Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue is a stone building with two floors located on 26th Street in downtown Yangon's Pabedan district. Inside, wooden ceilings display blue and white Star of David patterns, and the space includes a bimah, women's gallery, and a menorah against blue tiles at the entrance.
The building was constructed between 1893 and 1896, replacing an earlier wooden structure from 1854 that served Jewish settlers arriving from Iraq and India. It was built during the period when Rangoon was developing as a colonial trading center and Jewish merchants were establishing themselves there.
The building stands as a memory of Sephardic Jews who came to Rangoon during colonial times and built a thriving community here.
The synagogue sits on 26th Street in the Pabedan district, easy to reach by walking through downtown Yangon. The local Jewish community offers regular tours that show visitors the interior details and explain the building's significance.
Many visitors overlook the hand-carved detail work on the wooden ceilings, which has survived remarkably well despite tropical humidity and age. The precision of these ceiling patterns reflects the care the community invested in maintaining this sacred space over the decades.
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