Mandalay
Mandalay, the last royal capital of Myanmar Kingdom was founded
in 1857 by King Mindon and became royal capital in 1861.
Mandalay is also the second capital of Myanmar as well as the
second gateway to travel by Air to Myanmar. Being rich with
cultural heritage, you can still see considerable cultural and
religious significant places in the city of Mandalay. It is
famous for its traditional artifact and handicrafts. The legend
says that Lord Buddha had made a prophecy during his visit on
the Mandalay Hill that a great city could be founded at the foot
of the hill. Kuthodaw Pagoda with 729 marble inscriptions of
three baskets of Buddha Pali cannon, often called the worlds
Biggest Book built by King Mindon in 1848 is one of the
highlight you should not miss.
Located on the western bank of the river Ayeyarwaddy,
approximately 7 miles north of Mandalay. It is reached by
ferryboats across the river and takes 1 hour for up-river and 40
minutes for down-river. It is famous for many Buddhist shrines,
monasteries, meditation centres and monuments of historical and
cultural importance. A boat trip to Mingun is pleasant with
plenty of life on the river to see. It is about 11 miles from
Sagaing and you can reach there by road. It takes about 30
minutes. And you can also travel to Mingun from Mandalay but you
can get there by road. It is about 7 miles up river from
Mandalay and you can accessible only by boat. Via Gawwein jetty.
The journey takes 45 minutes.When you come along the motor way
to Mingun from Sagaing, you will first arrive at Kandawgyi, one
of the prominent big four in Mingun. Kandawgyi was formed while
digging earth to make bricks for building of Mingun Pahtodawgyi.
It was built by King Bodaw Badon in 1791. You will arrive at
Mingun Pahtodawgyi from Kandawgyi .Now, we are here at the
Mingun Pahtodawgyi from the top of the Pagoda you can view the
scene of Mingun and Ayeyawady river. You can use this stair to
climb to the top and there are all together 174 steps.
Sagaing lies 21km south-west of Mandalay on the west bank of the
Ayeyarwaddy River. Sagaing became the capital of an independent
Shan kingdom around 1315 after the fall of Bagan. Its period of
importance was short, for in 1364 the founder's grandson, Thado
Minbya, moved his capital across the river to Inwa. From 1760 to
1764, Sagaing was once again the capital. Today, Sagaing is
known as a meditation centre. Myanmars all over the country
would visit Sagaing for the purpose of religious retreat.
Inwa was formerly known as Yadana Pura. It was first founded as
a capital by King Thado Minbya in 1364 A.D. It is the confluence
of the Ayeyarwaddy & Myint Nge rivers. But the king had a canal
dug to join the Myint Nge and Myint Tha rivers thus cutting off
the capital as an island, safe from enemy attacks. As successive
kings ruled the war with King Raza Darit of Bago for many years,
the Shan chief Thohan Bwa took the advantage and overran the
capital. Gradually the kingdom grew weaker and finally it became
a vassal to the Taungoo Empire. Later kings shifted the capital
from Inwa back and forth many times until King Bayint Naung's
son King Nyaung Yan re-established his capital at Inwa in 1596
A.D. It continued to be capital till 1782 when Bodawpaya moved
the capital to Amarapura. But his son King Bagyidaw moved his
capital back to Inwa. It was destroyed by the earthquake of
1838. The ruins of the palace, the massive fort walls and moat
can still be seen of the splendour of the past when it had been
the capital for more than four and half centuries. Inwa lies
south of Mandalay and can from there in only 30 minutes of drive
be attained. This old king city was long time capital of
Oberburma. The foreign country was at present well-known Myanmar
as the Kingdom of Ava.The king palace at that time does not
exist any longer, however still the Nanmyint awake tower. From
27 meters height of bird perspective one can examine the range
of the historical place. Numerous pagodas, temple and
monasteries outlasted however Inwas' eventful past. The
monastery Maha Aung Myay Bon Zan built with brick and stucco is
particularly interesting. It was established to 1818 by the
queen Me Nu for the royal abbot at that time U Po.
Lies on the left bank of the Ayarwaddy River. A suburb of
Mandalay, it is also known as Taung-myo (Southern Town) or
Myohaung (Old City) which is founded by King Bodawpaya in 1783
as his new capital. Amarapura means City of Immortality.
Amarapura was the capital city of Myanmar, during the Konbaung
Dynasty. It was founded by King Bodawpaya in 1782 AD, as the
king transferred the capital from Innwa (or Ava). King Bagyidaw,
grandson of Bodawpaya shifted the capital back to Innwa in 1823,
but King Tharrawaddy his successor again took the capital back
to Amarapura in 1837 and it remained as the capital until King
Mindon built Mandalay in 1857 and shifted the capital there in
1860.
It
is 69 km away from Mandalay and over 1000 m above sea level.
Pyin Oo Lwin is well-known for its colonial style housing with
pine trees, eucalyptus and silver oak. It is cool and pleasant
the whole year round. Botanical garden of 175 hectare with
beautiful flowers, Pwe Kauk and Ani sakan waterfalls and Peik
Chin Myaung Cave attract the visitors with tranquil beauties. |
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