Irrawaddy ruins

**The Irrawaddy ruins** are a location in Disneyland's Jungle Cruise.

## Description

These ruins are located along the Irrawaddy river, a river which is located in the nation of Burma. The ruins were seemingly left by the Khmer Empire, an empire from the middle-ages based out of of modern-Cambodia.

### Points of interest

* **Cobra idol**:
* **Shrine**: This is a shrine which was built with several buddhist statues, an elephant carving, and a statue depicting Khmer king, Jayavarman VII (c. 1122–1218).

## History

### Background

This shrine was created along the Irrawaddy river in modern-Burma at some unknown point in time. The shrine was seemingly Buddhist and contained a statue depicting Jayavarman VII, a historic Buddhist king of the Khmer empire which would become Cambodia. The structures were left in ruins, presumable amidst a flood.

In the 19th century, the ruins were happened upon by one Dr. Albert Falls amid his 13-day exploration of the mystical Rivers of Adventure. Falls explored the ruins but made sure to touch nothing as advised to him be dear friend and fellow British colonist, Lord Henry Mystic. By the late 1930s, the ruins were a feature on the Jungle Navigation Company's, "Jungle Cruise" tours.

Around 1938, the shrine was turned into an archaeological dig-site. This site was overrun by crocodiles and an Indochinese tiger.

### Development history

These ruins were originally the Cambodian ruins and set along the Mekong river, and inspired by the Angkor Thom of Angkor Wat in Northern Cambodia. This temple in real life was Mahaparamasaugata's, "Temple Mountain" which the city of Angkor Wat was built around. The ruins originally appeared as an external-element at Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, though with a Chinese shrine structure housing a golden idol of Buddha that was occupied by a family of monkeys that would be removed not long after the original opening. The shrine's setting was changed in a 2021 refurbishment which changed their setting to the Irrawaddy river, a country far from Cambodia. This refurbishment also changed statues depicting the Hindu gods Hanuman and Genesha into statues of a bowing elephant and a cobra, respectively.

## Appearances

### Jungle Cruise

The ruins are passed through on the Disneyland version of the Jungle Cruise along the Irrawaddy river.

## Trivia

* In the Adventure Trading Company, *The Daily Gnus* newspaper mentioned the elephant carving inspiring the Elephant Jujus. This publishing was made while the temple was still the Cambodian ruins however as the elephant carving continues to appear, it is unknown if the Irrawady ruins were retconned into the Adventure Trading Company's backstory.
	+ Evidence for the retcon might be that the elephant carving only appears in exterior versions of the shrine scene, rather than the interior version at the Magic Kingdom which is still set in the Cambodian shrine.
	+ Evidence against the retcon might be that a board for the Jungle Navigation Company explicitly mentioned the, "Cambodian shrine" as being their source for a shipment of rare juju being transported to the Westward Ho Trading Company.
* Construction walls used on the ruins themed them to being an archaeological expedition's dig-site. This signage was taken from construction signs used for *Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye*, albeit with references to Indiana Jones (and a typo) removed.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/new-map-sits-at-the-entrance-to-the-queue-on-jungle-cruise-news-photo/1327854113
2. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2021/07/photos-video-new-jungle-cruise-with-cultural-sensitivity-changes-soft-opens-at-disneyland/
3. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=871455081057&set=oa.1903682069948046
4. ↑ https://insidethemagic.net/2014/08/adventureland-trading-company-adds-fun-scavenger-hunts-to-disneyland-unearthing-prizes-for-finishing-puzzles/
5. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2023/11/photos-theming-added-to-jungle-cruise-construction-walls-squirt-the-elephant-missing-at-disneyland/
6. ↑ https://blog.disneygeek.com/2023/02/10/pictures-indiana-jones-adventure-renovation-continues-disneyland-signs-wall/