Mon State Myanmar

Area : 4747.758 sq-km (12296.1947 sq-miles)
Population : 246600
Capital : Mawlamyine
Religion : Buddhism, Christianity, Islam

Myanmar Mon State is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is sandwiched between Kayin State on the east, the Andaman Sea on the west, Bago Division on the north and Tanintharyi Division on the south. It has a short border with Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province at its south-eastern tip. Myanmar Mon State has a tropical climate. It has a temperate weather as it is located in the low latitude zone and near the sea. The Myanmar Mon state has only slight changes in temperature.

Majority of inhabitants are Mons and Burmas. Kayin, Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Shan and Pa-O national races also live in Mon Myanmar Province.

Evergreen forests thrive in the region as it is located in the tropical climate zone with torrential rains. Marshes grow along some coastal plains and valleys of rivers and creeks and in trees (Dipterocaryus tuberculatus) grow on laterite-like land in areas east of Mawlamyine in Myanmar. Mangroves can be found near mouths of tidal rivers and creeks. Sandbanks are seen at some coastal areas. There are few silted-land cultivation and garden farms. Corn, groundnut, sunflower, beans and pulses, tapioca, sugarcane, coconut, oil palm, coccoa, condiments, cashew, nipa palm and fruits are other farm products of Mon Province. Famous farm products of Mon are durian, mangosteen, rumbutan, pineapple, citrus fruits, avocado and djenkol bean. The Mon State in Myanmar is the top producer of rubber in Myanmar country. Tin, antimony and white clay are some of its natural products in Mon State Myanmar.

Myanmar Coastal fishing is an important enterprise of Mon State. Villages on Bilu Island and villages in Thanbyuzayat, Ye and Kyaikkami townships are engaged in producing dried fish and fish sauce in Myanmar. Agar-agar is produced from sea algae at Marine Science Department at Setse. Salt is produced from saltems in Ye Township and Htantabinchaung in Paung Township.

The sublime balancing boulder stupa called Kyaiktiyo (Golden Rock) is a major pilgrim age site for Myanmar Burmese Buddhists and tourists alike in Myanmar Mon State. A visit shouldn't be undertaken lightly as a day trip, which in theory could involve a taxi, long-distance bus, truck, human porters and your own foot power, but it's well wroth the hassles as much for the inspiring views from the top as for the gravity-defying boulder itself. The manmade plaza around the Golden Rock is the typical Myanmar mix of religious iconography and commercial development, monks and laypeople meditating in front of golden Buddha status while several meters away rosary beads and toy wooden rifles are for sale. All but the fittest will probably have to take a breather at one of the drink stands clinging to the cliff sides on the road from the truck stop to the stupa area.

The small stupa, just 7.3m high, sit atop the Golden Rock, a massive, gold-leafed boulder delicately balanced on the edge of a cliff at the top of Mt Kyaikto. Like Shwedagon Paya in Yangon or Mahamuni Paya in Mandalay, the Kyaiktiyo Stupa is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Myanmar and Mon State.

Myanmar legend states that the boulder maintains its precarious balance due to a precisely placed Buddha hair in the stupa. Apparently Myanmar King Tissa received the Buddha hair in the 11th century from a hermit who had secreted the hair in his own topknot. The hermit instructed the king to search for a boulder whose shape resembled the hermit's head, and then enshrine the hair birth to a zawgyi (an accomplished alchemist) father and naga (dragon serpent) princess, found the rock at the bottom of the sea. Upon its miraculous arrival on the mountain top, the boat used to transport the rock then turned to stone. This stone can be seen approximately 300m from the main boulder it's known as the Kyaukthanban (Stone Boat Stupa).

The atmosphere surrounding Kyaiktiyo during the height of the pilgrimage season (from November to March) is charged with magic and devotion, especially when the glinting boulder id bathed in the purple, sometimes mist, light of dawn. Pilgrims chant, light candles and meditate all through the night. Men are permitted to walk along a short causeway and over a bridge spanning a chasm to the boulder and affix gold-leaf squares on the rock's surface.

A new terrace allows devotees to view the boulder from below. There are several other stupas and shrines scattered on the ridge at the top of Mt Kyaiktiyo in Myanmar. The interconnecting trails, however, sometimes lead to unexpected views of the valleys below.

Further behind the Myanmar pagoda plaza area, down a stairway, there is a Potemkin village of restaurants, souvenir shops and guesthouses for locals Burmese (Myanmar).

Long before the rise of Bagan, Thaton was an important centre for a Mon kingdom that stretched from the Ayeyarwady River delta to similar river deltas in Thailand, and possibly as far east as Cambodia. Early on, Thaton may have been known as Suvannabhumi, the "Golden Land" legend says Asoka, the great Indian Buddhist emperor, sent a mission here in the 3rd century BC. Later it was called Dvaravati when it reached its dynastic peak between the 6th and 10th centuries AD. Shin Aran, a Myanmar monk from Thaton, carried Theravada Buddhism north to the Burmese Kingdom of Bagan Myanmar, and in 1057 Thaton was conquered by Myanmar King Anawrahta of Bagan.

Today Thaton sits on the main road and Myanmar rail line that stretches from Bago to Mottama. Little of Myanmar ancient Thaton is visible, as the modern town has been built over the old sites in Myanmar. The town's core is a leafy place, lining each side of the highway with colonial mansions and thatched-roof homes. A few older Myanmar stupas dot the hillsides surrounding the town and a picturesque canal network irrigates rice paddies and fruit orchards in Myanmar.

The recent completion of a two-lane bride over the Myanmar Thainlwin river connection the nondescript town of Mottama with Mawlamyine makes the double-decker Myanmar passenger ferries obsolete except for the most devoted boat enthusiast. Despite the expected decrease in ridership, Myanmar ferries are still scheduled to leave the Mottama landing every half hour from 7.15am to 6.45pm. The foreigner fare is US$1 and the trip takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on the tides in Myanmar. If you don't feel like waiting, there's a much faster 25 seat outboard across the river for K200, or you can always charter a Myanmar boat across the river for about Myanmar K3000 to 5000K.

Less frequent Myanmar vehicle ferries from Motama to Mawlamyine depart depending on the tides in the river, the last boat leaves just before sunset and the crossing takes about 30 minutes.

The Myanmar impression one has of Mawlamyine from Mottama, on the other side of the ThanLwin River, is of a big, busy city. Myanmar Thanlwin Bridge is the longest bridge in Myanmar connects Yangon and Mawlamyine from Mottama. But wander the streetlight-free streets after sunset and it seems quaint and startlingly undeveloped, especially for the Myanmar country's third-largest city. Completed only in 2004, a 3km bridge over the Thanlwin River the longest in Myanmar-brings this leafy, tropical town, 45km from the sea, closer to the north.

With a ride of stupa-capped hills on one side and the sea on the other, the stage is set for an attractive urban setting. Unfortunately, though, an unsightly row of modern Chinese style buildings along the waterfront and a general air of decay though this may seem atmospheric to colonial architecture buffs-make the city seem neglected and forgotten. But it's this very melancholy, so evident in the ornate and decrepit mosques that captivate visitors. One was George Orwell (author of Burmese Myanmar Days), who was stationed here for a time in the 1920s during his service with the Indian Imperial Police.

Mawlamyine (some maps show it as Mawlamyaing) served as the capital of British Burma from 1827 to 1852, during which time it developed as a major teak port. A great deal of coastal shipping still goes on, although Pathein and Yangon have superseded it as Myanmar's most important ports. A great deal of coastal shipping still goes on, although Pathein and Yangon have superseded it as Myanmar's most important ports. The city is composed roughly of 75% Mon or some mixture of Mon, plus Kayin, Bamar, Indian, Chinese and other ethnic groups. A look around the old Christian cemetery gives a hint of how cosmopolitan Mawlamyine was during the 18th and 19th centuries in Myanmar.

This two-storey Myanmar Mon catural museum (Baho Rd formerly Dalhousie St & Dawei Jetty Rd., admission US$2) at the northeastern corner is dedicated to the Mon Myanmar history of the region. Exhibits are displayed downstairs, while upstairs are reading rooms and toilets.

The museum's modest collection includes stellae with Mon inscriptions, 100 year old wooden sculptures depicting old age and sickness (used as dhamma-teaching devices in Myanmar monasteries), ceramics, silver betel boxes, royal funerary urns, Mon musical instruments and wooden Buddha altars.

In front of the Myanmar Mon catural museum is a British cannon dated 1826, plus a huge Burmese gong. Some labels are printed in English though most are in Burmese Myanmar only.

In the city's east, hilly north-south ridge is topped with five separate Myanmar monasteries and shrines. At the northern end is Mahamuni Paya, the largest Myanmar temple complex in Mawlamyine. It's built in the typical Myanmar Mon style with covered brick walkways linking various square shrine building. The main image is a replica of its namesake in Mandalay but without the thick gold leaf. Another difference is that women may enter the main Buddha chamber here. In the outer cloister several well-executed paintings depict local scenes from the 1920s and 1930s.

Farther south along the ridge stands Kyaikthanlan Paya, the city's tallest and most visible stupa. It was probably here that Rudyard Kipling's poetic "Burma girl" was "a stein" in the opening lines of Mandalay: "By the old Moulmein Pagoda, Looking lazy at the sea" (never mind that it's actually the Thanlwin River that's visible from the paya poetic license). For a small donation you can take a lift to the main platform surrounding the 40m stupa, which offers fine views over the city and harbout.You can also see the plains to the east towards Kyaikmarraw and the coconut tree shrouded islands in the mouth of the Thanlwin River.

Below Kyaikthanlan is the 100 year old Seindon Mibaya Kyaung, a Myanmar monastery where King Mindon Min's queen, Seindon, sought refuge after Myanmar's last monarch, King Thibaw Min, took power. On the next rise south stands the isolated silver and gold plated Aung Theikdi Zedi.

Futher south, on the western side of the ridge, a view looks out over the city and is a favoured spot for watching Myanmar sunsets and catching evening sea breeze. Just beyond the viewpoint stands U Khanti Paya, built to commemorate the hermit of Mandalay Hill fame; supposedly around a large Myanmar Buddha image. Various bells and gongs are suspended by ropes from the steel supports of the sanctuary's ceiling.

U Zina Paya, on the southern spur of the ridge, was named after a former Myanmar monk who dreamt of finding gems at this spot, then dug them up and used the proceeds to build a Myanmar temple on the site in Mon Myanmar division. One of the Myanmar shrine buildings contains a very curvy, sensual-looking reclining Buddha topped with a blinking electric halo; a second recliner in the same room has blinking lights all ovwr its body.

In the centre of town towards the waterfront, on South Bogyoke Rd., are three mosques built during the colonial era when many Indians arrived to work for the British. Since the Indian exodus of the 1970s Muslim congregations have declined substantially, but the survival of these grand old Myanmar buildings makes a walk here a fleeting exercise in nostalgia.

The most impressive building, Kaladan Mosque, is a green and turquoise structure designed by Sunni Muslims in the elaborate "wedding cake style" similar to that seen in Penang or Kuala Lumpur. Further south, on the same side of the street, is the smaller Moghul Shiah Mosque, a Shiite place of worship painted blue with austere Moorish arches. A couple of blocks further, south of the central Myanmar market, the Sunni Soorti Sunni Jamai Mosque fills a similar space but presents a more brilliant turquoise and white facade.

Just up from Myanmar Dawei jetty, on the eastern side of Strand Rd, the small but colourful Htyan Haw Myanmar Chinese temple serves the local Chinese community. First Baptist Church, also known as the Judson Church, on the corner of Htet Lan Magyi and Dawei Jetty Rd; this was Myanmar's first Baptist church.

Myanmar Mawlamyine's Zeigyo (central market) is a rambling area on the western side of South Bogyoke Rd, just north of the main pedestrian Myanmar jetty for Mottama. This market specializes in dry goods, from inexpensive clothes to house wares in Myanmar. Much of the Myanmar merchandise includes items that have fallen off the Myanmar boat on the way from Singapore to Yangon, such as untaxed cigarettes and liquor.

A block north on the same side of the street is the Myanmar New Market, a large shed built as People's Market No 2 during Myanmar's socialist era. Fresh fruit, vegetables and meats are the attraction here.

A variety of street vendors set up shop along both sides of south Bogyoke Rd in the area of these two Myanmar markets. The entire district is busiest in the early morning from 7am to 8am business is considerably slower in Myanmar.

This picturesque little isle off Mawlamyine's northwestern end is so named because, during the Ava period, the yearly royal hair-washing ceremony customarily used water taken from a spring on the island.

You can hire a Myanmar boat out to the island from in front of the Mawlamyine Hotel for K2000 or K3000. Other than just walking around the nine acres and soaking up the ambience, you can visit Sandawshin Paya; a whitewash and silver zedi (stupa) said to contain hair relics, and a nearby Buddhist meditation centre. Among other islands in the river, there is the largest one Bilu Kyun (Ogre Island) in Myanmar Mon division.

Only 14km south of Mawlamyine is the Pa-Auk-Ya-Monastery; at 400 acres it's one of the Myanmar largest meditation centres in Myanmar. Foreigners can visit for the night or several days; sleeping and eating is gratis, meditation may pay for by the sweat of your brow, but courses can be quite expensive. Buses (K200, 30 minutes) form Mawlamyine's central Myanmar market pass by the road junction to the Myanmar monastery from where it's a short walk.

Just off the road between Mawlamyine and Mudon is Yadana Taung where Myanmar local Buddhists have only recently finished constructing Win Sein Taw Ya, a huge reclining Buddha measuring around 170m in length, making it one of the largest such images in the world. Many other stupas and standing Buddhas dot the area, affording wonderful panoramas of both the sculptures and countryside. Nearby is Kyauktalon Taung, a flat-topped limestone crag crowned with stupas. On the opposite side of the road is a similar but smaller outcropping surmounted by a Hindu temple. Pick-ups from Mawlamyine's market (K300) take 45 minute to the junction for the road to Win Sein Taw Ya. It's another K100 for a horse-cart ride to the Buddha itself. There's an interesting line up of Myanmar monk statues on the road.

Mudon, 29km south of the city, is an area of verdant mountains home to deer, snakes and other wild forest species "jungle food" for restaurants in Mudon. The town is also known for cotton weaving. Pick-up from Mawlamyine's market (k300) take around 45 minutes.

Just north of Mudon is a turn off east to Azin Dam, a water-storage and flood-control facility that's also used to irrigate local rubber plantations. A tidy recreation area at Myanmar Kandawgyi lake formed by the dam is a favourite picnic spot; bring your own snacks or reply on the vendors who gather here on weekends and holidays. At the northern end of the lake stands the gilded Myanmar stupa of Kandawgyi Paya.

This small, charming town, site of an impressive temple, 24km southeast of Mawlamyine is accessible via a sealed road. For the most part, Kyaikmaraw is considered a pacified area, although insurgents or bandits have been known to rob rubber plantations along the road to Mawlamyine.

Hugging the banks of the Ataran River, a branch of the Thanlwin River, the town consists of mostly wooden homes with thatched-palm or corrugated metal roofs in Myanmar Mon Division.

The pride of the town is this Myanmar temple built by Myanmar Queen Shin Saw Pu in 1455 in the late Mon Myanmar regional style. Among the temple's many outstanding features are multicoloured glass window set in the outside walls of the main sanctuary, an inner colonnade decorated in mirrored tiles, and beautiful ceramic tile floors. Painted reliefs appear on the exterior of several auxiliary building in Myanmar.

Covered brick walkways lead up to and around the main square sanctuary in typical 15th century Mon style. The huge main Myanmar Buddha image sits in a "European pose", with the legs hanging down as it sitting on a chair rather than in the much more common cross-legged Buddhas surround the main image, and behind it are two reclining Buddhas, one with eyes open, one with eyes closed. Another impressive feature is the carved and pained wooden ceiling.

A side room to the inner sanctuary contains sculptures depiction the Buddha in various stages of illness and death other than the traditional parinibbana reclining posture, these are unusual motifs for Buddhist Myanmar temples. Two images show the Buddha lying on his back with hands folded on his abdomen; another depicts an ill Buddha stooping over slightly with one hand clasped to his disciples reach out to assist him.

Next to the main sanctuary is a small Myanmar museum with Buddha images, donated by the faithful, on the upper floor; other artifacts from the area are on the lower floor. Some of these objects are more than 500 years old in small Myanmar museum.

South of Mudon, little traffic is seen and the hills to the east are more densely forested. Thanbyuzayat (Tin Shelter), 64km south of Mawlamyine, was the western terminus of the infamous Burma Siam Myanmar Railway, dubbed the "Death Railway" by the over 16,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and Asian coolies who were forced by the Japanese broke into Myanmar after marching over the rugged mountain range separating British Myanmar Burma from Tak in Thaikand via Three Pagodas Pass.

A clock tower in the centre of Thanbyuzayat stands at a road junction; the road south leads to Ye white the road west goes to Kyaikkami and Setse. About 1.5km south of the clock tower, a locomotive and piece of track commemorating the Burma-Siam Myanmar Railway are on display. A kilometer west of the clock tower towards Kyaikkami, on the southern side of the road, lies the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, this contains 3771 graves of Allied POWs who died building the railway. Most of those buried were British, but there are also markers for American, Dutch and Australian soldiers. The site is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Located 9km northwest of Thanbyuzayat kyaikkami was a small coastal Myanmar resort and missionary centre known as Amherst during the British era. Adoniram Judson (1788-1850), an American missionary and linguist who has practically attained sainthood among Burmese Baptists, was sailing to India with his wife when their ship was blown off course, forcing them to land at Kyaikkami. Judson stayed on and established his first mission here; the original site is now a Catholic Myanmar school on a small lane off the main road.

Among other accomplishments, Judson developed the first Burmese-English dictionary in 1849 and was the first person to translate the Bible into Burmese. He was imprisoned along with his wife by the Burmese court during the negotiations of the treaty that ended the war. Judson died in 1850 and was buried at sea, but the grave of his wife, Anne Judson, who died soon after their release from prison in 1826, can still be seen in Kyaikkami, about 200m off the main road near the school.

However, the main focus of Kyaikkami is Myanmar Yele Paya, a metal-roofed Buddhist shrine complex perched over the sea and reached via a long two level causeway; the lower level is submergen during high tide. Along with 11 Buddha hair relics, the shrine chamber beneath Yele Paya reportedly contains a Buddha image that supportably floated here on a raft from Sri Lanka in ancient. A display of 21 Mandalay style Buddha statues sits over the spot where the Sinhalese image is supposedly buried in Myanmar Kyaikkami Yele Paya.

This low-key Gulf of Martaban beach lies about halfway between Kyaikkami and Thanbyuzayat Setse is a very wide, brown sand beach that tends towards tidal flats when the shallow surf-line recedes at low tide. The beach is lined by waving casuarinas trees and has been a popular spot for outings since colonial times in Myanmar.

Yon can stay at the privately owned Ngwe Moe Guesthouse (US$15/20). It's on the beach, along with several bungalows for Burmese Myanmar citizens. Rooms are basic and electricity is scarce. A few modest Myanmar restaurants offer fresh seafood.

For direct pick-up transport to Setse from Mawlamyine read at least one long stop in Kyaikkami tickets should be reserved a day in advance. Myanmar Buses run south but you may have to change once in Thanbyuzayat and once in Kyaikkami.