The photograph is of the monastery in the 1890s.

Delighted that the United States government will be providing funding and technical expertise to help restore the beautiful Shwenandaw Monastery in Mandalay.
(see: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/mandalay-upper-myanmar/7625-us-to-fund-restoration-of-historic-mandalay-monastery.html)

The Shwenandaw Monastery is a place of considerable historical importance. It was originally a (secular) part of the palace and included the private apartments of King Mindon. It was there that the king died in 1878, surrounded by his many wives and daughters, attended by his German physician Dr Marfels, and having made his fateful decision not to appoint single heir. King Thibaw on coming to the throne decided the building was inauspicious and moved it from the palace to outside the walls. The remainder of the old city was either destroyed by the British or destroyed during World War 2. Only the Shwenandaw monastery remains.

Very regrettably, the renovation work done during the 1990s left much to be desired, to say the least. I believe the government today is more than aware of past mistakes and with American assistance I'm hopeful this can be model conservation effort. The photograph is of the monastery in the 1890s.(By-Thant Myint-U)