Qibla · Mandalay Region
Qibla direction in Pyin Oo Lwin
To face the Kaaba in Pyin Oo Lwin, turn to 280.7° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (10.7° north of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 5,814 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Pyin Oo Lwin should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 280.7°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 281°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Pyin Oo Lwin
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 10.7° towards north: the result is the bearing of 280.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 11° off.
Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. The simplest check in Pyin Oo Lwin is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Pyin Oo Lwin. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Pyin Oo Lwin to Mecca points to 269.3° (west), 11.3° away from the correct 280.7°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 36 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 22.0350° N, 96.4568° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.
Distance from Pyin Oo Lwin to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 5,814 km from Pyin Oo Lwin as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 5,773 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 7 h 20 min, although most pilgrims from Pyin Oo Lwin connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Pyin Oo Lwin run 3.5 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Pyin Oo Lwin rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Pyin Oo Lwin
On 125 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Pyin Oo Lwin while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 May 2027 it happens at 17:22 local time.
On 187 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in March (31 days), for instance on 1 March 2027 at 06:53.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 06:53 |
| 15 March 2027 | — | 07:40 |
| 1 April 2027 | — | 08:34 |
| 15 April 2027 | — | 09:19 |
| 1 May 2027 | 17:22 | 10:13 |
| 15 May 2027 | 16:31 | 11:02 |
| 1 June 2027 | 15:35 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 12:39 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 12:37 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 15:55 | 12:00 |
| 1 August 2027 | 16:54 | 11:02 |
| 15 August 2027 | 17:41 | 10:11 |
| 1 September 2027 | — | 09:07 |
| 15 September 2027 | — | 08:14 |
| 1 October 2027 | — | 07:14 |
| 15 October 2027 | — | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Pyin Oo Lwin: at 15:48 and 15:57 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Pyin Oo Lwin compared with other cities
Compared with Nay Pyi Taw, 257 km away, the Qibla in Pyin Oo Lwin is turned 1.7° further anticlockwise (280.7° against 282.3°), and Mecca is 17 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Mandalay (39 km), prays towards 280.6°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.
Across the 30 cities in Myanmar on this site, the Qibla ranges from 279.1° in Kalemyo to 287.6° in Myeik, a spread of 8.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Myanmar.
Qibla in cities near Pyin Oo Lwin
Qibla in Pyin Oo Lwin: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Pyin Oo Lwin?
It is 280.7° from true north, which is west: 10.7° north of west.
How far is Pyin Oo Lwin from Mecca?
5,814 km in a straight line over the globe, and 5,773 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Pyin Oo Lwin?
On 125 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Pyin Oo Lwin not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 269.3°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Pyin Oo Lwin at 280.7°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 280.7° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.