Sightseeing
Shwedagon Pagoda‘It is always a delight to one’s eye to gaze upon its glittering spire, always a fairy study of artistic enchantment; but perhaps if it has a moment when it seems clothed with peculiar and almost ethereal, mystic attraction, it is in the early morning light, when the air has been bathed by dewdrops and is of crystal clearness, and when that scorching Eastern sun has only just begun to send forth his burning rays. I would say go and gaze on the pagoda at the awakening hour, standing there on the last spur of the Pegu Hills, and framed by a luxuriant tropical of foliage.’
G T Gascoigne, 1896
Towering over the city of Yangon is the gold-encrusted Shwedagon Pagoda – Kipling’s ‘Winking Wonder’ – the biggest Buddhist temple of its kind in the world. Heed Miss Gascoigne’s advice and admire this wonderful structure in the early morning or perhaps at twilight. Or simply afar from the Royal Lake. To fully appreciate the wondrous splendour of the Shwedagon, visit twice or three times would be better.
Believed to have been constructed in 585BC, the Shwedagon was originally a mere 27ft high, but was brought up to its present height of 326 ft in the 15th Century by Shin Sawbu, queen of Pegu. It commands veneration and worship not solely because it dates back 2,500 years, but because of the authenticity of its origin which finds support in Buddhist scriptures. It is thought that two Burmese traders, Tapussa and Bhallika of the Mon Kingdom of Okkala, who had journeyed to India by sea, met the Buddha and received a gift or eight hairs from his own hands. On their return, their sacred gift was enshrined by King Okkalapa in a golden pagoda on the Theninguttara Hill, the most natural location for a temple. It is believed that the sacred relics of the three preceding Buddhas, which had been enshrined on this hill – a staff, a water dipper (filter) and a bathing garment (or portion of a robe) – were excavated and re-consecrated or re-enshrined along with the new relics, in effect giving the pagoda a fourfold religious significance. Kings, queens and commoners have, through the ages, bestowed gold, silver and a myriad of other gifts to embellish the pagoda. The gold-plating and the precious stones (rubies, sapphires and topaz) in the diamond bud and the vane and hti run into many millions of kyat.
There are four approached to the Shwedagon with ascending flights of steps from all the four quarters: north, south, east and west, lined with vendors offering flowers, gold leaf, candles, books and an assortment of souvenirs. Entering via the western approach from the U Wisara Road, you will find on reaching the platform a figure of the founder King Okkalapa himself on the wall towards the west-northwest corner.
The base of the pagoda is 2ft 3in high with a perimeter of 1,420ft. On the platform are 64 smaller pagodas with four large ones right in the centre of the four cardinal points. There are chinthe (lion-like sentinels), innumerable shrines, tazaung (prayer pavilions) and zayats (resthouses built on sacred land/wayside resthouses for travellers). The platform itself is paved with marble and, whichever way you turn, you will find superb woodcarvings, floral designs, mosaic-wrought pillars along with numerous Buddha images, cast in alabaster and brass. There are the famous bells: the Maha Ghanta (Great Voice) Bell, 7ft high, 6ft 8 in wide, 1ft thick and weighing 16 tons, a gift by
Singu Min in 1778, and the Mahatisadda Ghanta (Great Sweet Sound) Bell which weights 40 tons, is 8 ½ft high, 7ft 8in wide and 1ft thick. This was a gift for King Tharawaddy in 1841 and is the second largest bell in the land.
Entering by the southern stairway, you find two huge chinthe, 30ft high, and statues of ogres. Once on the main platform looking up, you will see three terraces. Above three terraces, you notice the Khaung Laung Pone, a bell-like shape which has a circumference of 442ft at the base and 192ft at the top, reaching a height of 70ft 4in. Then comes the inverted begging bowl (thabeik hmauk) bearing a decorative ring of flowers trailing down, the twisted turban (baung yit) which
takes you another 41ft above; the lotus flower 31ft 5in high; the banana bud 52ft 11in high, the hti (umbrella) going up another 33ft (a donation of King Mindon), above that the pennant-shaped vane borne aloft and reaching towards the 76-carat diamond bud on top, a globe of gold, studded with precious stones. The weight of the gold and silver weather vane 1,100, and the number on the diamond orb 4,350.
‘Hail, Mother! Do they call me rich in trade?
Little care I, but hear me the shorn priest drone,
And watch my silk-clad lovers, man by maid,
Laugh ‘neath my Shwe Dagon.’
Kipling
Sule Pagoda
Located in the centre of Yangon and surrounded by shops with traffic whirling round it, the eight-sided Sule Pagoda reaches a height of 157ft. There are two accounts of the origin of the Sule, which dates back more than 2,200 years. One is the Venerable Mahinda went to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) 236 years after the nirvana of the Buddha. As a compliment in return, three years later, the then king of Sri Lanka sent an eight-man delegation to Burma. The delegation, gifts and Buddha relics brought were received by Bhoga Sena, king of what is now Syriam (Tanyin). The construction of the present-day Sule Pagoda was entrusted by the king to his minister Athoke. In those days the pagoda was known as Kyaik Kathoke or Kyaik Sura (Sura meaning a ‘hero’, and Athoke was a celebrated hero). In due course, the pagoda became known as Sule.
National Museum
The National Museum was first inaugurated in June 1952 at the Jubilee Hall, Shwedagon Road, and subsequently shifted to its present site, 24-26 Pansodan Street, formerly the Bank of India, in February 1970. It has a rich collection of antiques, cultural objects, arts and handicrafts of indigenous races, royal regalia, musical instruments, decorative arts and an art gallery. The artefacts are displayed in different showrooms in what is in truth a rather gloomy three-storey building.
On the ground floor, the first object that strikes you (and indeed the main attraction of the museum itself) is the Thiha-thana Palin (Lion Throne) which was presented by Lord Mountbatten in 1948. Built in 1816 during the reign of King Bodawpaya, it is the sole remaining throne of nine which were constructed: the other eight were destroyed by fire during World War II. Carved out of yamanay hardwood and finely gilded, it is flanked by royal regalia (all solid gold, including gold betel cups and vessels), silverware, artefacts, photographs, models and paintings of Mandalay Palace. You can also see various ceremonial robes, head-dresses, garments, girdles, divan and couches belonging to past members of the Burmese monarchy; even King Thibaw’s state attire and ivory chair and Queen Supayalat’s dressing table are on display.
There are opium weights, hilltribes costumes, paintings, woodcravings, Buddha images from the Pagan period and tools dating back to neolithic times.
Other attractions
Situated near the Yangon River waterfront, east of the Strand Hotel and at the intersection of the Strand and Botataung Roads, is the Botataung Pagoda (Pagoda of a Thousand Officers). The pagoda was constructed in AD 997 on the orders of Okkalapa, King of Twante, on the spot where the body of his son Minnanda, who had been drowned in the Pegu River, was burned. Legend has it that 1,000 officers brought two hairs of Buddha, which are displayed in a glass case in a hall on the right side in front of a stunning Buddha image. This image was donated by King Mindon in the middle of the 19th Century and taken by the British at the end of that century. It was returned in 1951. The Botataungis a hollow pagoda with a zigzagging corridor with walls completely covered in mosaic mirror glass.
The Chauk Htat Gyi (Six-Storey) Pagoda, north of the Royal Lake on Shwedagon Road, houses the fourth largest reclining Buddha in Myanmar, 216ft long and 58ft high. The original was built in 1907 by an exceptionally rich Burmese gentleman, but was destroyed in 1957. Rebuilt in 1966, it was completed in 1974 at a cost of no less than K5 million (allegedly from public donations). Of
particular interest are the feet of the Buddha which are inscribed with the 108 sacred symbols characteristic of an enlightened Buddha.
Nearby stands the Nga Htat Gyi (Five-Storey) Pagoda, erected in 1900 by U Po Aung, a merchant of Yangon and one of the trustees of the Shwedagon Pagoda. With its peculiarly shaped stupa, it houses a giant seated Buddha on a lotus throne, a footprint of the Buddha and a huge bell. There is also a silver stupa in the precinct. A beautiful tazaung with glass mosaic and woodcarvings on the wall and ceiling was donated by a rich Burmese lady and escaped the fire that destroyed much of the building. It is very peaceful early in the morning and at dusk when worshippers come to pay their respects. Next to the pagoda is a Chinese Temple.
The Kaba-Aye (World Peace) Pagoda was constructed in 1952 for the Sixth Great Buddhist Synod ). In 1948 a certain Saya Htay was meditating at the foot of Shin Ma Kyaung near Pakokku when he was approached by an old man dressed in white. The old man gave him a bamboo staff inscribed with the Pali words of Siri Mangala and asked him to present to U Nu. He further requested that U Nu build a pagoda to secure and reinforce the foundations of the Buddha Sasana. U Nu selected a site on a hillock seven miles out of Rangoon, also called Siri Mangala. The pagoda has a circumference of 300ft and goes up to a height of 118ft, with gilded finial. In the treasure vault is a silver image of Buddha cast out of half a ton of silver and four hundred weight of brass.
The Mahapasana Guha (Great Cave) nearby was also opened specifically for the Sixth Great Buddhist Synod on May . The Mahapasana Guha – a building in the form of a cave – serves as an assembly and ordination hall for abbots and monks. The cave – 455ft long and 370ft wide – cost K9 million to construct.
The Eindawya Pagoda was built in 1846 by Yewun U Win, on the site of the residence of Pagan Min, when he accompanied his father Shwebo to Rangoon in 1841.
Near the airport at Mingaladon is the Kyaik-kalo Pagoda (also spelt Kyaik Ka Lawt), which has zaungdan ( a covered walkway along which to approach the pagoda) recently constructed by the government. Kyaik is the Mon (Talaing) word for pagoda and kalaw means ‘to do obesiance or revere’. According to tradition, an ogre did obeisance to Buddha Kakusandha on this spot. Close by (about a minute’s drive away) is the Kyaikkale Pagoda, which also has a newly contructed zaungdan. In Mon kale means to disappear. Legend has it that the Buddha Kakusandha disappeared on this spot between the eyebrows of the ogre while playing hide and seek. In the pagoda precinct stands a statue of the ogre called Kaya Heindaka Bilu. The pagoda, which was repaired in 1897 and crowned with a hti in 1904, is surrounded by monasteries. In the precinct is a tall, standing statue of the Buddha making a prophecy.
About ten minutes’ drive away stands the Alein-nga-sint Pagoda, built by a famous abbot Seiwunkaba Sayadaw. It is unique in style and quite perculiar. Inside is a green Buddha image called Maha-sandaw-shinmya-hpaya (The owner of the hair relics’ emerald statue). The foundation stone of
this pagoda was laid on April jointly by the abbot and the President of Burma, U Win Maung. In the four corners are staircases each with five tiers: the name of the pagoda literally means ‘twist five layer’.
At North Okkalapa, five minutes from Mingaladon Airport, is the Meilamu (Meh-lamu) Pagoda, which boasts numerous vast Buddha images. Amongst the myriad of images are the Buddha on the way to Enlightenment, the Buddha preaching to his five disciples, the Buddha resting, four large images in different postures, a large image of all eight conquests of the Buddha, images of Shin Thiwali (the most fortunate disciple of the Buddha) and Shin Upagok (the most powerful of all the disciples), Lord Buddha’s son Yahula asking for a legacy from his father, Lord Buddha surrounded by two rivals, Devadatta and a follower, two images of the Lord Buddha mediating, and a hermit called Thumayda prostrating himself as a bridge over a stream for the Buddha to walk over.
In the Thamaing area of Rangoon is the Kyauk-waing Pagoda, called Kyaik-waing-ut in Mon. In Mon waing means ‘to play’ and ‘hide and seek’. According to tradition, Buddha Kakusandha played hide and seek with the ogre, the wager laid being that if the ogre was found by the Buddha, he should listen to his preaching, and if not found, the Buddha should be eaten by the ogre.
In the Thin-gan-gyun Township of Yangon stands the Kyaik-kasan Pagoda, which is reputed to have been built in the 4th century BC by Sihadipa, King of Thaton, assisted by Yasa and seven other monks, over 16 hairs and 32 bone-relics of the Buddha. In Mon it is called Kyaik-Ha-san, signifying the ‘Pagoda of eight monks’. Golden statuettes of these monks were enshrined in the building.
In Yegyaw, Pazundaung Township, in East Yangon is the Shwephoneywint Pagoda, where Buddhists meditate in order to attain Enlightenment. It contains a footprint of the Buddha, a small stupa and compound. For those interested in meditation, it is a fascinating pagoda: its name literally translates as ‘Practise meditation and Enlightenment blooms here’. Indeed there are shrines of Enlightened persons and nats in the precinct. The pagoda was originally called Shwegyokpwint –‘Golden casket being opened’. The casket in question contained hair relics that were enshrined in the pagoda, which was founded by King Okkalapa after the Shwedagon.
In Sanchaung Township stands the Kohtatgyi (Nine-Storey) Pagoda, built by means of donations from a merchant named U Kyin, his wife Daw Ngwe Zan and son Maung Kyaw. Constructed on August 5 1905, it contains a giant seated Buddha, which is currently under renovation.
Situated about 12 miles (or 45 minutes) northeast of Yangon is the Htaukkyant War Cemetery, said to be the resting place of 33,421 soldiers who perished in World War II.
BEYONG YANGON
Syriam (Thanlyin)
Syriam (Thanlyin) was Lower Myanmar’s main trading port in the 18th century and an old Portuguese settlement.Today it is a dirty, ugly place which is reached either by ferry in about 40 to 50 minutes or by car in 30 minutes over the Yangon-Thanlyin Tada (bridge), built with the aid of the Chinese and completed in November 1992, Syriam is home to two splendid pagodas: the Kyaikkauk and Kyaikmawwin (also known as the Kyauktan Yah-leh-hpaya, ‘water middle pagoda’).
Guarded by two massive chinthe with black beards (the head of the left chinthe is tilted to the right), the Kyaikkauk is located at Payagon. According to tradition, it enshrines one of the two hairs of the Buddha which were given by the sage to 24 hermits on his visit to Syriam at the invitation of Gavampati, the second being enshrined in Yangon’s Kyaikkasan Pagoda. The pagoda, which is similar in size and design to the Shwedagon, has four pavilions with four seated Buddhas. In front of the pagoda lie the tombs of two celebrated Burmese writers, Natshinnaung and Padethayaza.
About two to three minutes’ drive away is Natsin-gone (‘hillocks where there are nat shrines’) and a
dilapidated stupa called Manawmayazeidaw. Alas, all of the nats have disappeared, but their names are written inside the shrines. There is a tomb of the abbot named Sayadaw U Dewataymiza who apparently lived until he was 109 and a marble footprint of the Buddha encircled by two dragons. There is also a monastery called Manawmaya.
Reached by boat, the Kyauktan Yay-leh-hpaya, meaning ‘Pagoda in the middle of the water’, is guarded by two colorful ogres. Legend relates that the water level never rises up to the pagoda precinct even if the surrounding area becomes flooded. To make the journey to Syriam by ferry, you have to get to the Thidar jetty. The ferry actually crosses the tributary of the Yangon River known as the Pazundaung-chaung. Be prepared for an unpleasant ride: you have to wait until the ferry is jam-packed before it moves off and if you want a wooden seat you will have to pay extra. The ferry stinks of urine and is full of hawkers selling everything imaginable: quail’s eggs, pomelos, bananas, lemons, guavas, coconuts, sugarcane, buns, ice-cream, peanuts, newspaper, cigarettes, toys, and results of the Burmese lottery. They even rent out Burmese comics for the trip. It’s a dull crossing with little of interest, though when you reach Syriam you can take a horse-cart and explore a part of Myanmar which has probably only seen a handful of tourists in the past decade.
PYIN U LWIN (MAYMYO)
Getting There
Some 42 miles (67 Km) northeast of Mandalay lies the hill station of Maymyo, and whilst it is possible to get there and back in one day (by train), it is more sensible to stay overnight. It can take up to 2 ½ hours to reach and maybe 1½ to 2 hours to get back.
History
Situated at around 3,500ft (roughly 1,100m) above sea level, Maymyo took it name from Colonel May (Maymyo literally means ‘May Town’) of the 5th Bengal Infantry Regiment which was stationed in the town in 1886. Because of its pleasant cool climate (and strawberries) it served as a summer resort for the British government in Burma.
‘And in Maymyo, too, there are those who will not hear a word against the place. According to them, Simla, Ootacamund and other stations in the East are all very well, but for an ideal resort give them Maymyo.’
Elizabeth Visits Burma, ‘Jeff’, 1910
What to see
Maymyo’s 17 square miles are practically hedged in by low hills, the highest being One Tree Hill at 4,021 ft. Eucalyptus, silver oak, pine, chrysanthemums, coffee, pineapples, strawberry milkshakes, cabbages and cauliflowers make it seem more like a village in rural Kent than Pyin U Lwin in Upper Myanmar.
Of principal interest are Maymyo’s vast Botanical Gardens, laid out by Sir Harcourt Butler, governor of Burma, established in 1914 and located just south of town. The gardens are dominated by the Kandawgyi Lake, which is bisected by a small golden stupa called Hsu-taung-pyay-cut-kyaw-zedi.
At the Chinese Temple (Tayoke-hpayp), visitors are invited upstairs into the prayer room to receive the so-called ‘Three Treasures’ from a Sino-Burmese monk. These consist of ‘the Heavenly Portal’, ‘the Divine Mantra’ and the Symbolic Seal’. The ceremony itself takes the form of kneeling in front of a Chinese Buddha image, clasping your hands together in a rather peculiar way, bowing countless times and repeating the phrase U Typhoo Me Loo. This supplication should be uttered in times of crisis and the Chinese Buddha will come to one’s aid.
Out of Maymyo, proceeding along the Lashio Road, the unsuspecting foreigner passes hordes of Japanese-made cars – without number plates – which are to be smuggled across the border into China. The Japanese impose a strict limit on the number of motor vehicles which can be exported directly from Japan to China. To bypass this formality, and to earn themselves a few extra million dollars with which to purchase arms and military equipment, the government acquires the cars themselves and deviously sells them on to their Chinese allies over the border.
One hour off the Lashio Road beyong Wetwun village (15 miles/24km southeast of Maymyo), where three streams, three cliffs, three caves, three gullies, three pits, three hills and three waterfalls come together and where peik-chin trees grow in abundance, are the Peikchinmyaung Caves (Catkin Creeper Caves).
The cave abounds in Buddha images, many neon, and one stupa. One of the image in style to the Maha Muni in Mandalay, and there are also statues depicting various tales from the life of the Buddha. There are countless stalactites and historians say that the rocks date from 345 million years ago and the cave itself form 230 to 310 million years ago. You can eat at the Nann Myaing Restaurant.
A waterfall (Pwei-gau) five miles (8km) from town to the Lashio Road is another popular destination. Further out of town lie the Anisahkan and Wetwun Waterfalls (seven and 15 miles/11km and 24km out respectively), whilst 35 miles (56km) out on the Maymyo-Lashio Road is the famous Goteik Viaduct, built between two forest-studded plateaux of the Shan Hills and across a vast, deep gorge. An astonishing feat of engineering, this railway bridge crosses the valley at a height of 870ft. Maymyo also has a market, where many local hill people from Shan State in their stunning costumes can be seen. There is an excellent view of the surrounding area from the Naung-kan-gyi Pagoda on the hill top.
MOUNT POPA
About 50 miles (80km) southeast of Bagan (Pagan) rises the sugar-load Mount Popa (Popa is Sanskrit for flower) 4,981ft high, like a massive, misplaced pillar. It was created from a violent volcanic eruption way back in 442 BC to become the dwelling place of the gods. For 700 years from the 4th to 11th centuries, every king had to make a pilgrimage here to consult the spirits before his reign could begin. Even today, Mount Popa is considered the earthly font of power for the mystical world of the nats. A shrine to the Mahagiri nats (the blacksmith of Nga Tin De and his sister Shwemyet-hna, ‘Handsome and Golden Face’, guards of Bagan’s Sarabha Gateway) stands halfway up the steep path to the summit, which itself is covered with pagodas and other religious structures. According to legend, they perished in flames as a result of the evil designs of the local king. Henceforth the 4th century King of Bagan, Thinli-Kyaung, made Mount Popa the official home of the brother and sister spirits with the intentions of providing a national centre for nat worship.
Location: Myanmar Burma
1. Suntex Holiday Maker
Yangon / Thandwe (Sandoway) / Yangon
Lon-tha jetty where the British landed during colonial times. An interesting cheroot factory called Na-yi dazeik Hsay-leik-hkon (Watch Brand Cheroot Factory). It is here that the Lord Buddha lived three of his Previous 547 lives: a king cobra (hamadryad), a partridge-king and a sa-
2. Suntex Holiday Leisure
Yangon/Kaikhtiyo (Golden rock)/ Mawlamyaing (Moulmein)/Yangon
Yangon/Kyaikhtiyo by coach and accomodated at (1) Mountain View Resort (2) Golden Rock Hotel. A brief description of schedule can be found separately in Tour Code: (14) Suntex Holiday Adventures.
Zayat (resthouses) and stalls line the entire route, selling an amazing arrays of souvenirs and Burmese medicines, including Arrival at the base camp of Kinpun, tourists must first register with the Immigration authorities. It is an invigorating 71/2-mile trek up to the top monkey’s blood (myauk-thwe), python’s gall (sabagyi-thechay) and seal’s penis (phantho).The Chinese believe that climbing Kyaikhtiyo three times makes you rich! Climbing Kyaikhtiyo on foot achieves merit, which will assist you on the way to nirvana. Derived from the Mon-Sanskrit, Kyaikhtiyo means a “pagoda shouldered on the head of a hermit” and the celebrated shrine is on the crest of the Paung- laung ridge (one of the ridges of Eastern Yoma). The diminutive Kyaiktiyo. Pagoda, just 18ft high, is built on a huge boulder which balances precariously on a projecting tabular rock. The rock itself is separated from the mountain by a deep chasm which is spanned by an iron bridge, thus enabling the pilgrims (but not women) to pay close homage at its feet and to make merit by gilding the boulder with gold leaf. Legend has it that in the time of the Lord Buddha, hermits resided in the mountains and after obtaining sacred hairs from the Buddha enshrine them in the pagoda on their respective mountains. But the hermits from Kyaikhtiyo, reluctant to part with his share of the scared relic, treasured in his hair-knot. Only after finding a boulder resembling his head did he enshrine his cherished share in a pagoda built on it. For centuries the pagoda lay buried in the jungle, the wonderfully balanced boulder withstanding the rigors of wind, rain and earthquakes before being discovered in 1823 by Minhlathinkha-thu, the mayor of Sitang.
LOWER BURMA (Moulmein and vicinity)
Gaung-hsay-kyun-hpaya, on Gaung-hsay-kyun (Shampoo Island), lies a sliver pagoda across the Salween River. You espy a golden stupa. It ‘s Kyaik-than-lan, Kipling’s Pagoda, the locals say, in Moulmein, which is one of the most enchanting locations in all Burma.
Getting there:
Moulmein, capital of Mon State and located at the mouth of the Salween River, was the British administrative center in the first half of the 19th century. Moulmein is the third largest city in Myanmar.
It is possible that you will reach the river crossing at Martaban (known as Mottama to the Burmese) in about eight hours.
Moulmein boasts the finest sunsets – and pomelos – in Burma, and, more surprisingly, one of the finest hotels, the Mawlamyine on Strand Road, Tel: 22560/21976. In bungalow style and enjoying a wonderful location by the water’s edge with the views of Shampoo Island, the Mawlamyine has air-conditioned rooms, TV, fridge and cold water. Owing to the bungalows’ riverside position, an evening invasion of frogs, grasshoppers, moths and friends takes place. But that’s a small price to pay to watch the myriad boats plying the waters, to glimpse the stunning sunset, the curiously children of Moulmein.
The fascinating history of Shampoo Island, which emerged about 2,010 years ago, just before the birth of Lord Buddha. Buddha is believed to have visited the area himself and presented eight hairs to some hermits. These hairs are now enshrined in the eye-catching silver stupa known as Sandawshin (Holy Hair). The ancient kings of Burma and Siam ( and important personages) came to the island to wash their hair before coronation in sacred water obtained from a well (you can still see the well today).
3. Suntex Holiday Package
Yangon / Bagan (Pagan) / Mandalay / Inle / Yangon
General description {Bagan (Pagan)}
No other capital of Burma, either before or after, has approached the magnificence of Pagan in the days of its greatness. Its ruins are still the most impressive in the country. If you climb to the top of one of the pagodas, you will see ruined pagodas in every direction, pagodas of every shape and size, and there is practically nothing else in sight but these remnants of Pagan’ founder King Anawrahta ) and his successors. Of the secular buildings not a trace remains, though there must have been a very considerable population. The palace of the king, the monasteries of the monks, and the dwellings of the people built of wood and bamboo have all disappeared: nothing remains but countless pagodas, ranging from the majestic Ananda down to the humblest stupa.
All the great religious buildings, which make Pagan today such a wonderful scene of desolation, were constructed between 1057 and 1227. The Ananda was built by one of Anawrhta’s sons, so not only is it one of the earliest, it is also one of the most remarkable. The religious zeal which for two centuries kept a whole people so absorbed in building pagodas, temples and monasteries is remarkable enough in itself, but it is still more remarkable that in the 11th century the Burmese should have been able to construct such a temple as the Ananda. The diversity of form and excellence of architectural skill has never been equaled since. The succeeding centuries have produced nothing to rival the relics of Pagan.
Pagodas and temples
It is obviously impossible to visit all the pagodas and temples during your stay in Bagan (Pagan). Most guidebooks tend to classify the structures according to their location. There are five main areas: Pagan villages (near the two main hotels), Nyaung –U (near the market and northwest of the airport), Minnanthu (southwest of the airport), Myinkaba (south of Pagan) and Pwasaw (situated between Myinkaba and Minnanthu). However, since Pagan is essentially a place for those with a keen interest in history and architecture, it may be more useful to categorize the buildings according to their architectural style.
Independent tourists must pay an entrance fee of US$10 (dollars or FECs) and register at Pagan’s National Museum before they are permitted access to any of the sites. An additional charge of USD$3 is levied for every extra night exceeding two nights.
Stupas
1. Stupa whose dome is modeled on a reliquary (a receptacle of relics). A fine example is the Bu-hpaya,
2. Stupa whose dome is modeled on a tumulus (ancient burial mound). The Shwezigon is one of the holiest pagodas in Burma.
3. Stupa of a Sinhalese type. Southeast of the Shwezigon is the Sapada Pagoda, which is built in the 12th century by Sapada, a native of Bassein, who had been ordained a monk in Ceylon and who founded a sect at Pagan on his return to Burma.
Temples
1. Temple based on north Indian model. The most celebrated temple both in Pagan and Burma itself is the Ananda, which was built by Kyansittha in AD 1090, and constructed according to a plan furnished by Indian Buddhist monks. It symbolizes the endless wisdom (Ananta Panna) of the Buddha.
2. Temple of central Indian type. Southeast of the Bu-hpaya Pagoda stands the Mahabodhi Pagoda, built by King Htilo-minlo in AD 1215 AND based on the temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar which commemorates the spot where Buddha attained Enlightement. It is the only one of its type in Burma.
3. Temple based on south Indian model. At Minnanthu, about three to four miles (6km) southwest of Nyaung-U, stands the Sulamani Templewhich was built around AD 1183 by Narapatisithu.
4. Cave temples based on Indian model. Situated close to the Shwezigon Pagoda is the Kyansittha Umin, a low brick building half underground and half above. Despite its name, it has been attributed to Anawrahta.
SAGAING
Getting there
One of the most beautiful spots in Burma, Sagaing is accessible from Mandalay.
It is a most scenic route from Mandalay to Sagaing as you can cross the Ava Bridge, about a mile long and the only bridge spanning the Irrawaddy .
MANDALAY
History and general description
So, alas, Kipling never made it to Mandalay; as his biographer Charles Carrington relates: ‘Of Burma Kipling knew nothing at first-hand, until he called in a sea-going liner at Rangoon and Moulmein for a few days in 1889.
Mandalay, indeed, is a city of many characters. Its evocative, romantic nature conjures up all manner of images such as George Orwell. Even Bertolt Brecht, who never set foot in Burma, penned a song (with Kurt Weill) about Mandalay in his ‘play with music’ Happy End.
Mandalay was once the most beautiful city, the cultural heartland of Burma. But it was also a repressed, forlorn city, with a spirit stifled by a succession of battles, kings, fires and governments. It is a city that understandably clings on to its past, indeed, to a large extend, still lives in the past and accepts most grudgingly that it is today no longer the first city of Burma. Legend has it that when King Thibaw was forced to surrender to General Prendergast and was put on a ship to be exiled to India, old Mandalay wept and died. Trite as that may sound , it may not have been far from the truth. For decades Mandalay was stuck somewhere between 19th centuries; a wonderful timelessness, almost decrepitude, pervaded the city.
Mandalay, alas, is no more the city of Kipling or Orwell, let alone King Thibaw. Locals sardonically refer to it these days as China’s second city; old Mandalay has been bulldozed and sold off to the Chinese to make way for brothels, massage parlors, karaoke bars, night-clubs, hotels, restaurants, office blocks and spanking new motor cars. The streets of Mandalay are filled with the sound of Chinese music and karaoke songs.
The old city of Mandalay and all that surrounds it dates from the middle of the 19th century, though its royal culture is much older. Mandalay was the most Burmese of all cities and home of the most traditional Burmese music and dance. They say, too, that Mandalay was where they spoke the most eloquent Burmese. Together with Sagaing, it made up the religious heart of Burma, with its monasteries, phongyi and pagodas.
Mandalay is the city of King Mindon.
The city covers an area of 25 square miles, practically one-third of which was razed during World War II due to the principal offensive against the Japanese being centered in and around Mandalay Hill. With the loss of its palace and its magnificent woodcarvings, a part of Mandalay died. In 1981 a devastating fire destroyed much of the northwest of the town and left 35,000 homeless. Mandalay is a veritable tinder-box: in recent years there have been countless fires, though not as ruinous as the one of 1981.
The city itself forms a near-perfect geometrical pattern, the roads cutting at right angles. The long, broad streets running east-west are alphabetically named and the cross-streets running north-south numerically, in the American style.
Entertainment and shopping
The celebrated Zegyo Market used to dominate the shopping in Mandalay. Situated in the town centre and overlooked by Diamond Jubilee Clock (dating from Queen Victoria’s reign), this vast bazaar was designed in 1903 by an Italian called Count Caldrari, first secretary of the Mandalay municipality. Other markets include the Mingala Bazaar, near Mandalay General Hospital, the Bayagyi, near the Maha Muni Pagoda (for religious artefacts), and the Nyaung Pin Bazaar for groceries fresh in from the Shan State.
Mandalay is famed for its ivory, gems, woodcarvings, tapestries, antiques, myriad Buddha images, silk and lacquerware. Always bargain hard and, as ever in Burma, caveat emptor.
Mandalay also boasts an interesting array of Buddha image carvers. They carve the images out of stone, marble, alabaster, wood and ivory. Famed, too, are the gold-leaf makers and beaters and silk weavers.
Mandalay Hill and environs
Mandalay Hill, with its 1,729 steps and under whose shadow the city lies sprawling, gives Mandalay added distinction. When you eventually reach it 954ft peak, past the drinks, cheroot and betel vendors and fortune tellers, you have a superb panoramic view all round. The crenellated walls of the old palace with its wooden spire on one side and the long line of the distant Shan Hills on the other make a truly magnificent sight. Mandalay Hill has four covered approaches. On the southwestern slope are the Peshawar Relics, sacred relics of the Buddha, which were discovered near Peshawar in 1909 and donated by the Government of India to the Burmese people. Near the
Northeast of the Sandamuni Pagoda lies the Kuthodaw (Royal Merit) Pagoda, also known as the Maha Lawka Marazein Pagoda. Modeled on the Shwezigon at Nyaung-U (Pagan), it was built by King Mindon in 1857. In the eyes of Burmese Buddhists, the Kuthodaw – the "world’s’ largest book" or 450 Pagodas – holds pride of place in Mandalay, for there are over 729 monoliths of white marble on which the Tripitaka have been inscribed. The inscriptions were made after the Fifth Buddhist Synod convened at Mandalay in 1871-1. It is said it took 2,400 monks six months to recite the entire text. Each slab has a small temple erected over it, making the Kuthodaw a vast and venerable pagoda.
South of the Kuthodaw lie the imposing ruins of the Atu-mashi Kyaung (The Incomprable Monastery) which dates from the same period (1857) and was built by King Mindon at a cost of 500,000 (five Lakhs) rupees. The building was of wood covered with stucco on the outside, and its peculiar feature was that it was surmounted by five graduated rectangular terraces instead of the customary pya-that (wooden spires). In it was enshrined a huge image of the Buddha made of the silken clothes of the king covered with lacquer, and its forehead was adorned with a huge diamond, which was presented to King Bodawpaya by Mahanawrata, governor of Arakan. In the building four sets of the Tripitaka were deposited in large teak boxes. During the troubles following the British annexation of Upper Burma, the valuable diamond disappeared, and the whole building, together with its contents, burnt down in 1890. The monastery was also renowned for the many ecclesiastical conventions which took place within it walls. All that remains of this great monuments, which drew rapturous accounts from travelers who saw it in its former glory, are the brickwork platform and the carved compound gates.
By the side of the ‘Incomparable Monastery’ stands the superb Shwenandaw Monastery (known to the Burmese as the Shwe-kyaung-gyi) which contains a replica of the royal throne. It is said that Thibaw would come here to meditate; indeed the couch he used to sit on can still be seen. Inside were once some masterly examples of glass-mosaic craftsmanship, though most have been lost through the passing of time. The Shwenandaw Kyaung was originally an apartment of the Royal Palace; it was also the place King Mindon passed away. His successor King Thibaw, believing the building to be haunted by Mindon’s ghost, ordered it to be disassemble and moved to its present location in 1880.
Other attractions
Mandalay’s original teak Royal Palace (known in its heyday as ‘The Golden City’ or ‘The Centre of the Universe’) is no more, but parts of it have been reconstructed. Built in 1857 by King Mindon, it formed a perfect square. In 1885, under the reign of King Thibaw, Mandalay was occupied by the British and the Royal Palace, having become a British military area, was renamed Fort Dufferin. The palace remained under British rule until 1945 when the Japanese invaded and seized control. The British, however, bombed the palace and a series of fires razed it to the ground. Only the city walls, the moat, the towers, the mausoleum and the raised platform, on which the palace was built, survived.
Within the enclosure of the Royal Palace lies the mausoleum erected over the remains of King Mindon, who died in 1878. Before he died, he left instructions that his body should be buried and not cremated, thus violating the time-honored custom of burning the dead bodies of members of the royal family. Close by lies the tomb of Sinbyumayin, the only daughter of the notorious Nanmadaw Me Nu, chief queen of King Bagyidaw, who was Mindon’s second queen and mother-in-law of Thibaw. She died in Rangoon in 1900 and her body was permitted to be buried near Mindon’s tomb. The chief queen of Mindon, Nanmadawgyi, who died in 1876, was also buried in the palace stockade, the third tomb to be erected within the sacred precincts of the Royal Palace.
Right in the heart of Mandalay stands the Shwekyi-myint Pagoda, built by King Minshinzaw, exiled son of King Alaungsithu ) of Pagan. This shrine has two especial attractions. The image is the original one consecrated by the builder himself and has now become the repository of many images of the Buddha salvaged from the palace at the time of the British occupation in 1885; images made of gold and silver, adorned with invaluable precious stones, representing the collections of successive monarchs. There is also a small golden palanquin (a covered litter for one person, usually carried by four or six men) and outside, on a veranda, a wooden palanquin used by a lesser queen. There are numerous images of Buddha images in the quadrangle of the pagoda, and rows of nats with lamps on them. The Shwekyi-myint is perhaps the most serene and beautiful pagoda in Mandalay.
On 85th Street, just south of Zegyo Market, stands the Setkya-thiha Pagoda, where the Buddha image was cast at the command of King Bagyidaw at Ava in 1823 (just before the outbreak of the Anglo-Burmese War in 1824) and subsequently shifted to Amarapura in 1849. Thirty-five years later it was brought to Mandalay when the third war broke out and the Burmese monarchy became extinct.
A little to the northwest of the Setkya-thiha Pagoda lies the Eindawhya Pagoda, built by Pagan Min in 1847 on the site of the palace in which he resided before he ascended the throne. Heavily gilded, this beautifully proportioned shrine houses a chalcedony (a type of quartz mineral mixed with opal) Buddha image said to have been brought from Bodh Gaya in India in 1839.
To the south of the city is the much-venerated pagoda which is variously called the Maha Muni (Exalted Saint or The Great Teacher), the Hpaya-gyi (Great Pagoda) and the Arakan Pagoda. The 12 1/2ft high seated image, which is heavily overlaid with gold leaf (and consequently badly misshapen), dates back to ancient times and was brought over by the son and heir of King Bodawpaya in 1784 from Myohaung in Arakan State. It is the largest bronze Buddha image in Burma. Legend has it that the Burmese tried three time previously (but unsuccessful) to steal it from the Arakanese. Bodawpaya, whose capital at that time was Amarapura, also built a road paved with brick from the capital to the eastern gate of the pagoda. Remains of this paved King’s Highway can still be seen. The original temple was destroyed by fire in 1884 and the present pagoda, with its terraced rood of gilded stucco, is of more recent construction. In the courtyard is a small building housing six bronze figures, Khmer statues brought back from Arakan State at the same time as the Maha Muni image (there were originally 30 figures, but remaining 24 were melted down by King Thibaw and cast into cannons for his struggles against the British). These figures had a chequered past: they had been appropriated by the Siamese form Angkor Wat to Ayutthaya in 1431, and then by the Burmese to Pegu. From there the Arakanese King Razagyi had them removed to his own state, only for them to end up eventually in Mandalay. The courtyard also contains a five-ton traditional Burmese gong and various inscription stones brought there for safekeeping by King Bodawpaya. The government has spent a fortune renovating the pagoda, museum, garden, turtle pond, fish pond, clock tower, shops and roads. Women are banned from approached close; only men may climb on the image to apply gold leaf.
On 63rd Street, between 28th and 29th Streets in the Aung Daw Mu Quarter, stands the recently renovated Aung Daw Mu Pagoda. There are two glass mosaic stupas, one big, one small – the bigger one is beautifully adorned with weird-looking orgues. There are three stunning Buddha images: the main one is particularly resplendent. Women must pay homage on the right side, men on the left. In the pagoda precinct is as image of the Lord Buddha preaching to his five disciples.
Five miles (8km) due east of Mandalay stands Yankintaung – the ‘Hill that is free from danger’, a mere 426 steps to the top. Of the Buddha’s 547 previous incarnations, 136 of them were spent as various animals on Yankintaung. Amongst the myriad of wonders are four stone fish (Ngayantmin), which people come from far and wide to pour water over and make a wish, and the Lwanzedi. Lwan means to miss somebody and King Mindon, while he was separated from his queen (Nanmadaw Me Nu), missed her so much that he built this stupa (Kywe-minzedi), with its eight statues of buffaloes, one for each time that Buddha incarnated as this creature, and the Chan-tha-ayezedi (peace pagoda) with a globe on top, followed by three terraces, leading up to the hti. The pagoda is surrounded by pictures and images of the Pyittaing-daung, the doll that never falls over (a favourite children’s toy). At the top of the hill is a giant Buddha giving prophecy.
Standard hotels at Inle Lake: (1) Golden Island
Cottages (2) Silver Seagull ( Ngwe Zin Yaw) (3) Princess Resort (4) Shwe Inn Tha
Excursion to Inle Lake. See the unique leg-rowers, the floating islands where
Getting there
In theory, Heho Airport is well served by flights: from Yangon and Mandalay, Kengtung, Lashio, Loikaw, Mong Hsat, Tachilet and from Chiang Rai.
If you’re coming from Pagan, you’ll pass through the towns of Meiktila and Thazi, the latter serving as the railway junction for trains to Yangon and Mandalay. The journey from Bagan to Meiktila takes about three hours. A stop-over for lunch at a village called Yinmapin in Shan State. From Yinmapin it’s another two hour to Kalaw, a scenic route which at the same time is reminiscent of both the Swiss Alps and West Sumatra. In fact you’re in the Shan Hills and as you climb, passing cotton plantations, the road twists and turn past house resembling those of the northern Thai hilltribes. If you’re lucky you may even catch the odd glimpse of an elephant splashing about in the Shan River.
Excursion to Heho /Kalaw / Pindaya
About two hours drive from Taunggyi to Kalaw (4319ft above sea level).Flowers haven for a rest in cool fresh mountain air and famous summer resort Europeans living in Myanmar, visit Pindaya caves and see countless Buddha images inside.
KALAW AND THE HILLTRIBES
‘The peacetime hill station of Kalaw seemed the best place for a rest. We found it…shadowed by a tree so thick with pink blossom there was no room on the boughs for leaves. The pattern of the pink-padded boughs against the blue sky was the most beautiful thing I had seen in Burma. There was a rockery, crazy paving, a goldfish pond, and flowerbeds crowded with snapdragons, mignonette, saxifrage and delphiniums. It took me back with a jolt to the pre-war tranquillity of country homes in Sussex.'George Rodger,1943
Nesting in the heart of the pine-studded Shan Hills at 4319ft (about 1300m) above sea level is Kalaw, a former British hill-resort littered with colonial-style houses. Meaning ‘pan’ because of the shape of its locations in the mountains, Kalaw has a population of around 25,000 and is surrounded by craggy slopes, numerous hilltribes and a large military base. In 1935 F Deaville Walker in his book The Land of the Gold Pagoda remarked: ‘Kalaw has developed into a health resort and holiday hill-station for Europeans and Americans.’ And indeed for many years Kalaw vied with Maymyo as the most popular hill-station in Myanmar.
At present Kalaw boasts just one hotel for tourists – but, as George Rodger described so eloquently over 56 years ago, what a hotel! For the Kalaw Hotel, a sprawling colonial-style Tudor mansion, is wholly out of character with a country in Southeast Asia. But here it has stood since about 1915. Originally a resthouse solely for the British, it is now managed by the privately owned Eastern Yoma Estate Investment Company.
Kalaw is a cool peaceful town with a fascinating market where the various hilltribes come to buy and sell their goods: vegetable, fruits, flowers, and even skewered eels are amongst the many items on offer. In the area there five main tribes (not including the Intha who are based in and around Inle Lake):
Pa-O The women wear black dresses and turbans, the men a black jacket and trousers. The Pa-O are Buddhists of Karen stock and speak a Tibeto-Burman language.
Palaung They are noted for their colorful hats which they weave themselves and which vary according to their marital status. Married women wear a hat with white beads, a purple or blue jacket with red facing and a collection of thin lacquer bands around the waist. Single woman, though, wear a fenced woolen cap and a thick red-stripped longyi with an embroidered green jacket. At work however the velvet jacket is replaced by an embroidered cotton one and the hat by a band around the forehead to support the load of the basket carried on the back. About six miles (10km) northeast of Kalaw lies the Palaung village of Tawyaw with a population of around 150-200. The Palaung are Buddhist and speak a Mon-Khmer language.
Danu The women wear black skirts and brass ring on their legs and the men wear black jacket and trousers similar to the Pa-O. There are Taungyo villages around Kalaw and near Heho. They are mainly framing peoples of Tibeto-Burmese stock.
Padaung This is the famous tribe of the ‘giraffe-necked’ women who wear up to 28 brass rings on their neck and rings on their arms and legs. The rings were originally worn to stave off would-be kidnappers or protect them from tiger bites. The men dress in similar fashion to the Pa-O. The most interesting villages are located in the Loikaw area of Kayah State about 96 miles (155km) southeast of Kalaw. The Padaung, Kayah, are a sub-group of the Karen and are Buddhist/animist.
PINDAYA
The journey from Kalaw to Pindaya takes about 1 ¼ hours (though it’s only 28 miles/45km). If at all possible ask the driver to stop off at the village of Pwe-hla en route. Around 2,000 hilltribe people live here, Pa-O and Danu, and there is also a primary school.
Pindaya, situated at 3,880ft above sea level, is home to around 20,000 inhabitants and is essentially a farming community produce tea, cabbages, ginger, yams, potatoes, avocados, pineapples and oranges. The main hilltribe in the area are the Danu. The locals are absolutely charming, some of the most hospitable you will encounter on your travels throughout Myanmar. Pindaya lies besides a beautiful lake called Nat-thami-kan (Angels’ Lake). It is very relaxing to simply beside the lake and watch the locals fishing, washing and playing in the water. Transport is by horse-cart.
Tourists are accommodated in the Pindaya Hotel which, like the Kalaw Hotel, is now under the auspices of the Eastern Yoma Estate Investment Company (EYE Hotel Chain), so things can only get better.
Tourists essentially visit Pindaya for its celebrated caves (Sher-umin or Golden Cave), formed 200,000 million years ago, though both the spontaneous charm of the people and the scenic location have enormous appeal. The caves themselves are stocked full of Buddha images (apparently 8,094 in total) many covered in gold leaf and carved by the locals at the end of the 17th century in a variety of styles. There are also numerous stalactites and stalagmites. The prayer hall building (tazaung) was constructed by UKhanti, the hermit and architect of Mandalay Hill, the stupa inside the cave by King Alaungsithu in the 12th Century (bring a torch if exploring).
Two other places of interest in the vicinity are the Shwe Ohnmin Pagoda and the Padah Lin Caves where archeologists have been excavating a neolithic site.
INLE LAKE
Some tourists decide to stay at Yaunghwe’s Inle Inn or at the Golden Express Hotel, No 19 Phaungdaw Pyan Street, which belongs to the same chain of hotels as in Bagan and Mandalay and has 11 rooms with accommodation for 26, but there’s no particular reason to spend the night here.
Inle Lake – meaning ‘little lake’ – is home to four big villages on the lake itself, though there are 200 in all on and around the lake. It is 70 miles (112km) from one end to the other (which lies in Kayah State) and 30 ½ miles (49km) from Yaunghwe to the famous Phaung-Daw-U Pagoda. The lake depth of five meters though this obviously diminishes during the dry season. The ‘ people of the lake’ are the Intha of which there are approximately 70,000, hailing originally from the Tavoy region of Tenasserim. They began migrating to the lake area as early as the 14th Century, completing their resettlement during the 18th century. To survive, they became fishermen and developed their unique style of leg-rowing and catching fish in conical traps. Their wives planted floating gardens and grew all manner of crops: tomatoes, aubergines, chillies, beans, maize, potatoes, limes, bananas, oranges and flowers, which they sold at the market. And since the land fronting the lake belonged to the Shans, they were forced to built their homes and villages on the water itself. Thus sprung up the villages of Ywama, where the floating market is held once every five days, and Thala, a weaving center of fine cloth.
Eventually you reach the Phaung-Daw-U pagoda where the famous boat festival is held each October. Built at the beginning of the 18th century, the Phaung –Daw-U houses five extraordinary Buddha images. These are scarcely recognizable as they have been disfigured by layers of gold leaf which men stick on both for good luck and as an act of piety. Women are not permitted to do so, for Burmese Buddhists are afraid of harming Buddha’s (and man’s) hpon (potency).
TAUNGGYI
Taunggyi (Great Mountain) is one of the few disappointing towns in Myanmar. As the Shan capital it’s a much more affluent (and thus more Westernized) city than most in the land and the people scoot about on brand-new motorbikes and wear jeans not longyi. Affluence has come from smuggling, black market trading and opium trafficking and, as its center, Taunggyi is markedly wealthier than either Kalaw or Pindinday. Consequently the locals are far less friendly: in fact they’ll hardly give foreigners a second glance. They’re more concerned with zooming about on their motorcycles, seeing what’s on at the cinema and, of course, making money.
Taunggyi Taunggyi itself is not dissimilar to many of a northern or northeastern Thai town: long drab and characterless. It has no charm, few smiles and. even fewer sights.
Another former British hill-station, Taunggyi is about an hour’s drive from Inle Lake and situated at 4,690ft (1,430m) above sea level. The region (consisting mainly of ‘traders’, a frequently expressed Burmese euphemism) is home to roughly 150,000 people and is famed as the main cheroot-growing area in the land.
Taunggyi is famed for its Tazaung-daing Balloon Festival.
Taunggyi is also the home of cheroots. At the Ma-Oak cherook factory northeast of the market, you can watch
Burmese girls hard at work. Each girl earns pittance for a roll of 100 cigars (which takes 45 minutes to produce); if they’re lucky they’ll managed 1,000 cheroots a day – a whopping figure. Many of the girls are obliged to take cheroots away to roll at home. Tobacco is shredded with tamarind juice and some nuts and left to dry for two days before wrapping the cheroot. A filter is made from the dried outer skin of the maize cob
HEHO
Tourist don’t stay at Heho (an hour’s drive from Taunggyi), but they do fly there. Heho is the domestic airport for the Inle Lake region, though of much greater interest is the market held every five days. This is a rotating market and each day from town to town. The market is vast, offering all kinds of fruits and vegetables; they even sell cattle: this is where the euphemistically termed ‘informal trade’ comes into play. All the hilltribes are here in their different costumes: Pa-O in black and dark blue with orange trim and with what appear to be brightly colored tea towels on their heads, Taungyo women with red-stained lips and teeth and clad in short black dresses sequined with shells, Danu and Shan in Khaki and brown, and the Intha men (the ‘ people of the lake’) in plaid sarongs and Intha women in bright flower prints. As Mi Mi Khaing observes in The World of Burmese Women:
'The five-day bazaar system is an ancient institution in these northern parts of Myanmar. Marco Polo, travelling through these parts bordering on China and Burma in the 13th Century, remarked on a regular bazaar to which hill peoples from the surrounding higher regions walked down. The description holds true of bazaars meets in the Shan States of today… All capitals held their bazaars on days in between. Even in cosmopolitan town like Taunggyi where there is a bazaar every day. Bazaar Day is noticeable. The swell on every 5th day, with country folk, fresh produce and 5-day-oriented town-wives makes its own hum.’
Guide to Burma
By Nicholas Greenwood
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