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Environment
Mawlamyine(or Moulmein )is the capital of the
Mon State in the Union of Myanmar. It is also
the third largest city in the country, after
Yangon and Mandalay. It has a population of
about 240,000. Mawlamyine is an ancient Mon
town. The name according to the legend comes
from Mot-Mua-Lum, meaning "one eye destroyed" .
In this legend an ancient king had three eyes,
the third eye in the centre of the fore-head
having the power of seeing what was going on in
surrounding kingdoms. The King of a neighbouring
country gave his daughter in marriage to the
three-eyed king, and this queen was eventually
able to destroy the all-seeing third eye.
Mawlamyine is now being transformed into a
modern city with many new public and private
buildings coming up. Only the old pagodas on the
Mawlamyine Ridge remind us of her ancient
origins.
Mawlamyine
can be reached by road, rail or plane. As
Myanmar Airways flies to Mawlamyine only on
Thursdays and Sundays. it is more convenient to
go by car, bus or railway. There are at present
three trains from Yangon to Mottama(or Martaban
) ehe terminus across the Than Lwin ( Salween )
River from Mawlamyine. She trains leave Yangon
at 3a.m. . 4a.m. and 8a.m daily, and take about
seven hours to reach Mottama.
It is a
pleasant half an hour's river crossing by
passenger or car ferry from Mottama to
Mawlamyine. The ferry goes in a southeast
direction across the wide expanse of the Than
Lwin River near its mouth. As you cross, you can
see Bilu Gyun (Ogre Island) in the west.
Famous Places In Kyaikhtiyo
Kyaik-Than-lan Pagoda
Three
famous pagodas adorn the Mawlamyine Ridge. The
Kyaik-thanlan pagoda was erected in 875 A.D.
during the reign of King Mutpi Raja. A hair
relic of the Buddha, Tripitaka manuscripts and
gold images of the Buddha were enshrined in the
pagoda. Successive kings raised the pagoda
higher, from 56 feet to the present 150 feet.
The present base of the pagoda is 450 feet in
circumference. There are 34 small pagodas called
Zediyan surrounding the pagoda. A lift has now
been installed for easy access. Kyaik in Mon
language means a Cedi or Stupa The pagoda was
repaired by King Anawrahta, founder of the Bagan
Dynasty, and later enlarged by Mon kings,
especially King Wagaru of Mottama in 1538 A.D.
On the Platform can be seen a big bell with a
medieval Mon inscription and also another bell
with a quaint inscription in English, dated 30th
March 1885: " This bell made by Koonalenga, the
priest, and weight 500 viss. No one body design
to destroy this bell." There is also a memorial
to the famous Thingaza Sayadaw who passed away
in Mawlamyine in 1900.
Kyaik-than-lan was the pagoda that the famous
English poet Rudyard kipling wrote about in his
poem "Mandalay" which opens with the line: By
the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin lazy at the
sea".
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