|
Yangon (Rangoon)
| Bagan
|
Mandalay | Inlay Lake
|
Kyaikhtiyo
| Beach in Myanmar
Yangon (Rangoon).
 Yangon is the capital city and gateway to Myanmar by air and
sea. It is situated on the Yangon River and is 30 km up from
the sea. Its ancient name was Okkala. After the Shwe Dagon
Pagoda was built to enshrine the Sacred Hair Relics of
Gautama Buddha given during His lifetime (over 2,500 years
ago), it gained popularity as a pilgrimage center and
generally referred to as Dagon. When king Alaung Phayar, the
founder of the Kone Baung Dynasty conquered lower Myanmar in
1755, he renamed the town from Dagon to Yangon meaning " End
of strife". After Syriam (Than-Hlyin) the foothold of
Portuguese, was destroyed by king Anauk-Hpet-Lun. Yangon
became an important seaport for internal and external trade.
In the second Anglo- Myanmar War fought in 1852, Lower
Myanmar was ceded to the British. They anglicized Yangon
into Rangoon and since then became the seat of government.
But the Royal capital of Myanmar Kingdom remained at
Mandalay till 1885. Rangoon city was modeled and implemented
by Lieutenant Fraser of the British Engineering Corps, who
had also drawn the city plan of Singapore. The evergreen
tropical trees, shady parks with beautiful blossoms and
lakes in Yangon earned the named of " Garden City of the
East''.
Yangon meaning "End of Strife" (also known as Rangoon from
the British colonial times) has earned the name "The Garden
City of the East" due to the large number of tropical trees,
it's cool, shady parks and beautiful lakes. Although the
population hovers around 5 million, the city seems so full
of trees and shade that some areas are practically jungle.
Yangon offers a totally different feel from other Asian
cities of a similar size and it's not yet overwhelmed with
the desire for modernization. It's making its own progress
at its own pace, in its own calm, unique way. At night,
Yangon's wide boulevards come alive with hordes of stalls
selling delicious food and piles of huge cigars. If you can
close your eyes to the decay of the old colonial
architecture downtown, you'll probably agree that this is
one of the most charming cities in Asia.
Yangon Highlights
A visit to Myanmar is incomplete without
seeing the Shwedagon Pagoda. This glittering world famous
gold-plated Pagoda is 100 meters high, and surrounded by 64
stupas. It dominates the city from its hilltop site. This
mighty monument was built in the 18th century and is
surrounded by an incredible assortment of statues, temples,
shrines, images and pavilions. The Shwedagon was called 'a
beautiful winking wonder' by Kipling and it truly is a
magical place, especially at sunset.
In Yangon, you'll also find the legendary Strand Hotel, the
colossal reclining Buddha in Chaukhtatgyi Paya and the
peaceful Kandawgyi and Inya Lakes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bagan.
 Bagan, lying on the left bank of the Ayeyawaddy River in the
dry zone of central Myanmar, is the most popular historical
sites in the country. Ancient monuments of Bagan cover an
area of about 16 square miles. All edifices numbering over
2200 were devoted to Buddhism. The kings who reigned during
the 11th to 13th centuries, united the people of Bagan and
created the fundamental structures to govern the social,
economic and administrative systems which would form
foundation for present day Myanmar.
Under their guidance Bagan became a sophisticated city of
wealth and power. People from neighbouring area partook in
its flourishing center. Bagan was a walled city, the pagodas
and temples can be seen everywhere. These religious
buildings mainly consists of solid pagodas and hollow
temples. The solid stupa is usually in the form of a
bell-shaped dome resting on a series of receding terraces
and crowned by a finial. Bulbous forms of elongated domes
are indicative of their great antiquity as opposed to tall
and tapering structures of later periods. The temple is
another predominant type of religious buildings
characteristics of Bagan architecture.
Bagan is one of the main tourist attractions in Myanmar.
Located on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River, it is
also one of the richest archaeological sites in Asia. Once
the capital of the first Myanmar Empire, Bagan contains over
2000 well-preserved pagodas and temples from the 11th - 13th
centuries and covers an area of over 40 sq. kms.
Bagan Highlights
1. Ananda Temple
Built by King Kyansittha in 1090, the Ananda Temple is the
masterpiece of early style temple architecture. There are
four huge Buddha images in the standing position and a
series of eighty relief's depicting the life of the Buddha.
2. Thatbyinnyu Temple
Over 66 metres high, the Thatbyinnyu Temple, built by King
Alaungsithu in the middle of the 12th century, overtops all
other monuments and it terrace affords visitors a
magnificent panorama of the Bagan plain.
3. Gubyaukgyi Temple (Wetkyi-in)
A 13th century temple with a spire resembling the Mahabodhi
Temple at Bodha Gaya in India, the Gubyaukgyi is noted for
its wall paintings, depicting scenes from the previous
livers of the Buddha.
4. Htilominlo Temple
Built by King Nadaungmya in 1211, the 50 metre high
Htilominlo is one of the largest temples of Bagan and is
noted for its fine plaster carvings.
5. Dhammayangyi Temple
This massive temple: built by King Narathu in the 12th
century, displays the finest brickwork in Bagan.
6. Shwezigon Pagoda
Built by King Anawrahta, founder of the first Myanmar
Empire, and finished by King Kyansittha in special reverence
by successive kings and became the prototype for later
Myanmar pagodas.
Mandalay
This sprawling cultural centre is the most Burman of
Myanmar's cities. It was the last capital of Myanmar before
the British took over and is the country's second-largest
city.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mandalay Highlights.
 Mandalay is 262 feet above sea level and was founded by King
Mindon in 1856. It was the royal capital of the last
monarchy of Myanmar. It enjoys the splendor of the golden
age and still has great importance as a culture center. The
city earned its name from Mandalay Hill, 236 meter high hill
at the north-east of the palace. The majority of monuments
including the palace, palace walls, pagodas and monasteries
were built soon after the city was moved from Amarapura to
the present day Mandalay. The city was completely destroyed
in the fierce fighting of World War II, including the royal
palace. Hence the pride and glory of Mandalay has been
partially restored. There are many interesting edifices of
cultural and religious importance and Buddhist monasteries
with beautiful woodcarvings and masterpieces of Myanmar
Mansory. Mandalay is the home of the best traditions of
Myanmar music and dance. The member of the Buddhist clergy
known as the "Phongyi" or the monks from other places come
to Mandalay to study the Buddhist scriptures.
Shwenandaw Kyaung, the sole remaining building of the once
extravagant moated palace. Mandalay Hill, with its
spiralling stairways, temples and sweeping views. The
ancient Rakhine Buddha image at Mahamuni Paya. You'll also
find bustling markets that sell produce and handicrafts from
all across Upper Myanmar.
There are four 'deserted cities' nearby: Amarapura, Sagaing,
Ava and Mingun. Mingun is the most appealing of the four; A
delightful river trip from Mandalay is required to get to
this marvelous unfinished temple. Famous for the 90-ton
Mingun Bell, supposedly the largest hung bell in the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INLAY LAKE
.
Inlay Lake is the most famous scenic spot in the Shan State.
The Lake is 22.4 km long and 10.2 km wide, shallow and
extremely picturesque. Inlay Lake is the residence of the Intha People, the famous "Leg Rowers". They are known for
their rowing skills in having one leg locked around the
length of the oar, the other gripping the stern of the boat
while keeping a perfect balance.
The Intha people live and make their livelihood depending on
the lake. They build wooden or bamboo thatched houses that
stand on stilts and anchored on the surface of the lake by
driving the stilts into the lakebed. The land itself is a
floating island. Using their ingenuity, the Intha people
would weave mats and pile layers of mud dragged from the
floor of the lake over these mats creating a floating
vegetable and flower gardens. The gardens are anchored in a
place with long bamboo poles. These plots can be towed to
different locations. Sheltered among the hazy blue
mountains, the Lake is about 900 m above sea- level. There
are over 100 Buddhist Shrines and Monasteries on and around
the lake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KYAIKHTIYO
.
 Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda perches on the edge of Paunglaung Mountain Range, part of the Eastern Yoma, in Kyaikhtiyo Township, Mon state. It is one of the famous Pagodas in Myanmar and is about 3,600 feet above sea level. The hill on which Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda was built is also called the Kyaikhtiyo Hill. On the Kyaikhtiyo Hill, there is a huge and steep rock. A big boulder of the circumference is about 50 feet; rest on top - to be exact- on the edge of the other rock. At a glance it seems that the boulder will fall at a slight push. The boulder is in the shape of a human head. A small Pagoda (15 feet high) was built on that boulder. By using a piece of bamboo strip as a lever, with a piece of thread tied to one end placed under the rock you can pass the thread from one side of the boulder which shows that the boulder supporting the does not touch the rock below it. Gilded by pilgrims the boulder itself is bright in the sun- light. Kyaiktiyo is 160 kilometres from Yangon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BEACH IN MYANMAR
 Ngapali
Beach
Naples of the east as it is known, is situated on the
Rakhine coast. Ngapali is one of the most beautiful beaches
in Myanmar. The beach stretch over 3 km with blue sea, white
sand and swaying palm trees. It is half an hour flight from
Yangon. By car the journey takes, 14 hrs driving via Pyay.
There is an 18-hole golf course and a variety of hotels from
first class Bay View Hotel and Sandoway Beach Resort to
standard Ngapali Beach and Silver Beach. For those who love
the 5-S sea, sand, sun, swim and snorkelling. A visit to
Ngapali is a must.
 Chaung
Tha Beach .
About 42 km west of Pathein, a divisional town lies Chaung
Tha beach. No flight between Yangon and Chaung Tha. Car
journey from Yangon to Chaung Tha via Pathein takes 5 hrs.
Modern facilities can be found in bungalow type beach resort
hotels. Unspoilt, deserted Chaung Tha beach has white sands
with crystal clear blue waters. It is one of the most
beautiful spots in the world.
 Ngwe
Saung Beach
The mile long virgin beach is 29 miles from Pathein. Ngwe
Saung, Situated on the western seaboard of the country,
facing the Bay of Bengal. IT is bordered by tall, green
palms swaying in the breeze. The beach stretches 15 km of
white sand and blue sea. New bungalows are abundant.
Kan Thaya Beach
8 hrs. drive from Yangon lays Kanthaya Beach, which is 290
km from Yangon.
 |
