The Setkyathiha Paya was built in 1884 by King Thibaw. The temple contains a 5m tall bronze Buddha image originally cast by King Bagyidaw of Ava in 1823. The image was moved from Ava (Inwa) to Amarapura in 1849 when the Burmese capital moved there. It finally ended up in Mandalay in 1884; again when the capital was moved.

Mandalay; a sprawling city of more than 1 million people; was founded in 1857 by King Mindon to coincide with an ancient Buddhist prophecy. It was believed that Gautama Buddha visited the sacred mount of Mandalay Hill with his disciple Ananda; and proclaimed that on the 2;400th anniversary of his death; a metropolis of Buddhist teaching would be founded at the foot of the hill.