Upon entering the new Yangon Institute of Technology, one student remarked: “On our first day, with renewed hope and vigour, and a feeling of great anticipation, I made my way through the huge, lofty columns of the main entrance. But, I must confess, in all honesty, that I felt a little bit disappointed. The architecture was, if anything, imposing. It was extremely functional, but to me, it was a bit too sterile.“
Although the government now claims that there are no political prisoners here anymore, Insein Prison still conjures up images of one of the world’s most notorious prisons. Many of the pro-democracy activists were incarcerated here following the 1988 unrest, in inhumane, squalid conditions. The prison was known throughout the world as the ultimate symbol of the Burmese junta’s repression.
”The Library building I lit from the inside so that all the little coloured glass, coffin-shaped windows sparkled like a Christmas tree. The Assembly Hall was brightly lit inside and we arranged for a gentle flow of lighting outside; the roof looked like the humped back of a giant turtle. The buffet tables each had their own oil lamps, the “pweis” glittered as on the street on my first night [in Rangoon] – and the whole complex was alive with happy, laughing people. The crowds were so great that we held up the traffic for hours on the main Prome [Pyay] Road out of Rangoon. It was a great day and great evening. I went to bed happy – yet with a little tinge of sadness. Could anything quite so magnificent ever happen again for me, personally, in the rest of my life? I have had many great days since but, truly, never one quite like that.” (Raglan Squire on the opening of the Rangoon College of Engineering in 1956, from his autobiography)
Now that the former Sule Pagoda Road Police Station is demolished, the Naing Group Office Tower II is being constructed in its place. Diagonally across from the identical Tower I, this commercial real estate project will soon mark this important junction of Anawratha Road. The Traders’ Sule Square is just opposite the street.
The Rose Garden Hotel has been running under its soft opening for a while now while construction work is ongoing. The remaining floors and a sizable lobby area are slated to open later this year, although a quick glance at the latter reveals little but structural work being completed as of now. The rooms currently on offer appear more spacious than those of competitors in the same price range. They are tastefully furnished. However, a strange temporary feeling surrounds this hotel, not least because the current entry leads through a tunnel to the makeshift reception area. You have to give it to the developers: they did not build a faceless tower block (of which many are currently under construction in Yangon), but instead opted for an exuberant and interpretative take on Myanmar architecture. Sadly, stone-made pyatthat roofs do not convey much of the lightness inherent in traditional temple designs.
The Regional Parliament west of People’s Park is seen here from atop Yangon International Hotel. Its size can be better appreciated from here than from the street level. The parliament building was designed by architects from the Public Works Corporation and served as Burma’s Assembly of the Union before the capital moved to Naypyidaw. We wonder when this building was constructed?
The National Theatre is regarded as one of the best-equipped in the Southeast Asian region. In 2014, Berlin-based modern dance troupe Sasha Waltz and Guests had two appearances here, courtesy of the German Goethe-Institut.
The Taukkyan War Cemetery commemorates Allied soldiers who fell in the Battle of Burma during World War Two. It was begun in 1951 and is the largest war cemetery in Myanmar. There are more than 6,000 graves here as well as the inscribed names of more than 27,000 soldiers whose remains were never found. The grounds are meticulously kept by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, ironically making them a favourite location for photos, even at times for weddings. The cemetery can be found about 25 kilometres north of Yangon on Pyay Road.
The former Myawaddy Bank / Reserve Bank of India building is currently being renovated. Upon completion, it will house the Yangon Stock Exchange that is currently set up with Japanese technical assistance. Observers note that the anticipated starting date of October 2015 is ambitious. However, many of Myanmar’s most prominent companies have already announced their ambition to list on the exchange as soon as this is possible.
The Planetarium in People’s Park was built between 1986-1987. It was a donation by the Japanese government, and features Japanese optical equipment inside. The simple white building is near the Yangon Gallery, and can easily be missed amid the surrounding trees. Former military dictator Ne Win took an interest in astrology and was allegedly quite pleased with the present. In our book we will use the Planetarium to spend a few lines discussing Myanmar-Japanese relations.
Kuthodaw Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa, located at the foot of Mandalay Hill in Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar). It was built during the reign of King Mindon Min who had the pagoda built as part of the traditional foundations of the new royal city of Mandalay, which he was building in the 1850s. He was concerned that the teachings of Gautama Buddha would be lost, due to an ongoing British invasion and their lack of support for Burma’s traditional religion.
So King Mindon came up with a giant, amazing, and extremely unique way to preserve the entire text of the Tipitaka Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. He had it inscribed in huge stone slabs, 730 slabs in total. Each slab is a meter wide and a meter and a half tall (3.2 ft by 5 ft), and 13 centimeters thick (5 inches). Each stone has 80 to 100 lines of inscription on each side in round Burmese script, chiseled out and originally filled in with gold leaf. The slabs are big enough, but King Mindon wasn’t done yet. Each slab was housed in its own shrine, called kyauksa gu, with a precious gem on top. Again – that’s 730 shrines with 730 giant stelae. Finally, the shrines were arranged around a central golden pagoda. Maybe King Mindon figured that the British wouldn’t want to destroy such a large, expensive complex.
By the way, about the title of this post. Because they technically can be read, these 730 slabs of marble are figuratively called the “world’s largest book.”
