Falling in love with Myanmar: Hidden beauty of the world

Story and Pictures Ganga ILLEPERUMA Recent visit to Myanmar

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is the Land of Human Origin. It is also recognised as the Golden Land. Compared with other countries Myanmar is not a tourists destination per se but has many magnificent and exciting excursions in all part of the country.

People with a basic knowledge of the culture and custom of Myanmar will find it easy to live with its citizens and leave in the same fashion. Though Myanmar social customs are quite flexible, the ground rules are important for convivial inter change.

The country is a union of 135 ethnic groups with their own languages and dialects. The major races are the Kachin, the Kayah, the Kayin, the Chin, the Mon, the Bamar, the Rakhine, and the Shan. The name Myanmar embraces all the ethnic groups.

Architecture and arts

It is the architecture that one sees as the strongest evidence of Burmese artistic skills and craftsmanship. Burmese buildings take two basic forms - pagodas and temples. Traditionally only the latter have been made of permanent materials; monasteries and all secular buildings were, until recently, constructed of wood, and thus, only few non-religious buildings of former times remain to be visited.

Shwedagon Pagoda

Shwedagon Pagoda is the most popular and well-known pagoda in Yangon and is the most notable building in this city. This pagoda is one of the main tourist destinations in Myanmar. The Shwedagon Pagoda is a great cone-shaped Buddhist monument that crowns a hill about one mile north of the Cantonmen Pagodas are found almost everywhere in the country in big numbers. All pagodas, however, have in common a bell-shaped structure, which in later centuries was erected on top of a foundation. Temples are constructed mainly to house images of the Buddha. The walls are often decorated with beautiful paintings depicting episodes from the lives of the Buddha.

Maha Wizaya Pagoda

The pagoda itself is a solid brick stupa (Buddhist reliquary) that is completely covered with gold. It rises 326 feet (99 m) on a hill 168 feet (51 m) above the city. There are 4 entrances leading into the base of this Shwedagon Pagoda and we entered from the Southern entrance.

Sule Pagoda

Sule Pagoda is located in Yangon, at the junction of Sule Pagoda Road and Mahabandoola Road, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar. The Sule Pagoda is an excellent landmark. It is said to be over 2,000 years old. The pagoda is said to enshrine a hair of the Buddha: its Mon name, Kyaik Athok translates as the pagoda where a Sacred Hair Relic is enshrined.

Mandalay the second capital city of Myanmar still retains its old cultural traditions and is the centre of attractions for its historical heritage. It is well-known and for the presence of significant monastries, pagosdas, temples and religious edifices.

Pahtodawgyi

It is one of the famous buildings in the world which was built by King Bodawpaya. The building of Mingun Pahtodawgyi started in 1790. Had it been completed it would have reached a height of some 500 feet but it was stopped at 162 feet height. Its girth is about 450 square feet. When he was building this temple astrologies told him ˜If you finish build this temple you will miss the crown. So the king stopped that construction. The pagoda was left unfinished.

Two enormous prominent statues of lions in Mingun, one of the tourist attractions is at the eastern stairway of Pahtodawgyi which faces the Ayeyawaddy river. You can climb the top and from there, you can also enjoy the natural beauty of the Ayeyawady river. If this pagoda had been completed, then it would have been the largest monument. This unfinished structure was damaged with cracks left by the earthquake of 1838 but it is still the largest brick base in the world.

Mingun Bell

King Bodawpaya dedicated a big bronze bell near the Pahtodawgyi but it is said that Buddhist devotees inserted gold, silver ornaments and jewellery into the bronze. The Bell measures eleven cubits and four thits (fingers) in diameter at its mouth; 33 cubits, one mit (6 inches) and four thits in circumference and 13 cubits, one mit and four thits in height. It weighs 55555 viss.

Kyauk Taw Gyi Pagoda

The Kuthodaw Pagoda is often called the world's largest book which has 729 pages on stone scripts. It is a large walled complex situated at the base of the southeast stairway to Mandalay Hill and it was built by King Mindon in 1872. It is in this place that the king held sangayanawa and there were 2,400 monks came from throughout the country and they completed the pages during six months.

Than Buddha Pagoda

This temple is very similar to the Borobudur temple in Indonesia. The famous monk who lived in this area called Monyin Sayadaw built this temple in 1939- 1952. Inside this temple we could see 580,000 Buddha statues and we could buy new statues and replaced them. There are 7000 relics and many other precious materials enshrined here said Nway U Khine, our guide of Travelonthat accompanied us.

Mahamuni

The Maha Muni Pagoda was built to enshrine the Maha Muni image, nearly 13 ft(4m) high. It is covered with so much gold leaf that its body has lost all proportion. Only the face, washed during the ceremony each dawn, is not allowed to be gilded. Women are not allowed to go near the Buddha image.

U Pein bridge

The teakwood bridge spans 1.2 km across the shallow Taungthaman Lake some 10km south of Mandalay. It was built by U Pein in the mid-19th century when the capital of Innwa (Ava) Kingdom moved to the nearby Amarapura.

Today, even though a few of the 1,000 teakwood posts have been replaced by concrete, the bridge remains intact and serves as the main passage indispensable to the daily life of the local people.

Mandalay Palace

Mandalay Palace was the first palace to be built in Mandalay, by King Mindon when he shifted his capital from Amarapura in 1861. All ancillary buildings for the court, the fortified high walls with ramparts, the moat, water systems, roads, gardens with shady tamarind trees, recreational playgrounds, swimming pools, security ports with infantry and audience halls etc. The palace was burnt down during World War II by the British and today only the city walls are original. They are 2km on each side. The present palace is rebuilt by the military government taking after the model of the old one. Now the palace site is occupied by the military.

Gold Leaf

The square gold leaf tissues used for centuries and fragile enough that a breath of the softest wind could crumble them are all hand made in the lovely ancient capital of Mandalay. Only 24 carat gold is used. The gold leaf is so thin and light that to smooth out wrinkles, the girls just blow gently on it. The gold leaf is a sacred thing and can be offered to religious buildings, and shrines or for Royal use in the days of monarchy.

Pindaya Caves

The Pindaya caves are a limestone ridge overlooking the Pindaya Lake housing nine thousand Buddha images made from alabaster, teak, marble, brick, lacquer and cement which have been put there centuries ago and arranged in such a way as to form a labyrinth through the various cave chambers.

The cave is million years old and Pindaya means spider. The legend says seven princesses bathed in the lake and they took a rest in this cave. At that time the cave was blocked by a huge spider and the princesses shouted for help. Then the prince who came to the forest for hunting heard the crying and killed the spider by his arrow.

Later the prince got married to the youngest princess and lived happily ever after. Entering the cave we could see the images according to the legends of the spider and the prince with an arrow. There are two ancient stupas in this cave. One is from the 3rd century and the second from the12th century.

Inle Lake

Myanmar has its share of magical destinations and among them Inle Lake is one of the most captivating. It is frequently cited by visitors to Myanmar as the highlight of their entire trip.

The people of Inle Lake (called Intha), some 70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores, and on the lake itself. The population consists predominantly of Intha, with a mix of other Shan, Taungyo, Pa-O (Taungthu), Danu, Kayah, Danaw and Bamar ethnicities. Most are devout Buddhists, and live in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts; they are largely self-sufficient farmers.

Most transportation on the lake is traditionally by small boats, or by somewhat larger boats fitted with outboard motors. Local fishermen are known for practising a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar.

This unique style was evolved for the reason that the lake is covered with reeds and floating plants making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is practised only by men. Women row in the customary style, using the oar with their hands, sitting cross legged at the stern.

Floating farm Inle Lake is a major tourist attraction, and this has led to some development of tourist infrastructure.

They have floating gardens and tomato industry is their main income. Apart from these industries we could also see weaving centres and cigar manufacture also.

Kyaikhtiyo pagoda

Kyaikhtiyo pagoda is located in the small town called Kyaikhto, in the Mon State. The pagoda is also known as the golden rock. The meaning of Kyaik Hti Yo : According to Mon tradition, the name is a corruption of Kyaiki-thi-yo being derived as follows.

Since we couldn't reach there by coach we went by truck to the villages and on the final part to the top of the mountain we had to go by palanquin. The strong boys in this village make palanquins and they carry all foreigners to the top and it is their main income also.

It is located on top of mount Kyaiktiyo at 1102 meters above sea level is recognized as one of the wonders of South East Asia.

It can also be qualified as one of the wonders of the world by virtue of its unique position atop a gilded boulder which is delicately balanced on the edge of the sloping surface of a separate rock table, the slope dropping perpendicularly into the valley below.

Message from President Sri Lanka Myanmar Friendship Assoc.

As the President of Sri Lanka Myanmar Friendship Association, I am happy and honoured to send a congratulatory message on His Excellency Senior General Than Shew the Head of Stateof Myanmar visit to Sri Lanka. Myanmar and Sri Lanka have maintained close religious and cultural ties for nearly a thousand years since the 11thcentury when Sinhala monks began to playa key role in disseminating the Theravada form of Buddhism in Myanmar.

When in the 18thand 19thcenturies with the decline of Buddhism after the devastation caused by the Portuguese, sections of the Sri Lankan Sangha expressed interest in receiving Higher Ordination independent of Siam Nikaya, Myanmar Sangha and the royalty readily came to our help.

The Amarapura Nikaya and Ramanna Nikaya were thus formed in Sri Lanka.

These two monastic lineages contributed immensely to the enrichment of educational, cultural and religious conditions in Sri Lanka and later to the world-wide international Buddhist movement.

The Myanmar President's visit will herald a new era of bringing the already existing ties of the two countries to a new height, especially in religious and cultural sectors. Religious and cultural tourism is an area that should be promoted in order to create a better people to people understanding between our two countries. Our Association will be happy to give our utmost support to such aninitiative.

- Kumara Semage