Mawlamyine, Myanmar
The hilltop Kyaik Than Lan Pagoda offers a 360-degree view of Mawlamyine and remains a major attraction for pilgrims, locals and a handful of foreign tourists.
By Denis D. Gray, The Associated Press
MOULMEIN, Myanmar — On the steps to the great Buddhist shrine of Moulmein, visiting British author Rudyard Kipling was inspired to write one of the most collected poems in the English language. one.
“Beside the old Mawlamyine Pagoda, lounging at the sea / There’s a Burmese girl there, I know she’s thinking of me.” This is the opening line of “Mandalay,” a verse full of nostalgia for the wind -Young poet leaves waving palms and twinkling temple bells for Britain’s gray skies.
Today, 128 years after Kipling’s obsession, the Kyaik Than Lan pagoda remains a major attraction for pilgrims and tourists. Its towering gilded stupa glistens on the ridge overlooking the leafy, watery city, which is inextricably linked to Kipling’s British colonial past. The Burmese women he noticed were there, too, some wearing traditional aprons that have long been discarded in much of Asia, some chatting on smartphones as they walked around the stupa in the correct Buddhist way.
Despite modern technology, and as Myanmar’s fourth-largest city, Mawlamyine (as Mawlamyine is now officially spelled) remains distant from the mainstream of the world, in part because of its location. It’s a 186-mile road journey from Yangon, Myanmar’s international gateway, with other options being rickety trains or sporadic flights.
For decades, foreigners were banned from the area because of the rebellion. Tourists remain scarce compared with the end of military rule in 2011 and the influx of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to other parts of Myanmar after last year’s election victory.
Our group recently opted for the most scenic route to Mawlamyine: a drive from Yangon to Hpa-an, the delightful capital of Myanmar’s Karen state, and from there charter a boat along one of the world’s longest still free-flowing rivers of the Salween River. Before emptying into the sea, the Salween River enhances the charm of Mawlamyine, flowing through its coastal road, and families stroll on the wide stream to watch the sunset.
Mawlamyine wasn’t always a small road. After the First Anglo-Burmese War, the British made it their capital between 1826 and 1852, building government offices, churches and a huge prison. They launched commercial enterprises and the nation’s first newspaper.
Many of these remnants of British Raj have survived, along with mosques, Hindu temples and even a patch of America, reflecting the diversity of Mawlamyine.
The legendary Adoniram Judson, one of the first American missionaries to a foreign country, built the town’s first Baptist church in 1827 and went on to write a book during his nearly 40 years in the country English Burmese Dictionary and translate Bible into Burmese.Nearby stands St Matthew’s Anglican Church, built in 1887 and still in use, though like many of the city’s heritage buildings, it is in a picturesque state of decay: vegetation sprouting from peeling brick walls, The tower clock is always set at 6:54 p.m.
Given the multitude of Buddhist temples in Mawlamyine, one might succumb to pagoda fatigue. But aside from “Kipling’s”, which is said to date back to 875 and enshrines a hair of the Buddha, the Yadarbon Myint Monastery is a must-see, though rarely visited. The small palace of the monastery houses some of the finest carvings in Myanmar, commissioned by Queen Sein Don, one of the 45 concubines of Mindon, the penultimate king of Myanmar.
After Mandalay was occupied by the British in 1885, the Queen brought her artisans here from the royal capital. What they created has special value because the Royal Palace in Mandalay and most of its art treasures were destroyed in World War II.
While the Buddhist shrines of Mawlamyine will certainly be preserved, the colonial heritage and the city’s unique character are under threat. Longtime resident Dr Tin Soe said the fledgling local government lacked expertise, the still-mighty military sold public land to enrich itself, and the public saw little value in old buildings.
But there is a silver lining in Yangon, where the Yangon Heritage Trust is spearheading a generally successful campaign to save the city’s grand colonial architecture from bulldozers and decay.