Amarapura ( my, အမရပူရ, MLCTS=a. ma. ra. pu ra., , ; also spelt as Ummerapoora) is a former capital of

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, and now a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fou ...

city. Amarapura is bounded by the

Irrawaddy river The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Orig ...

in the west,

Chanmyathazi Township Chanmyathazi Township (also spelled Chanmyathasi Township; my, ချမ်းမြသာစည် မြို့နယ်, ) is located in south-central area of Mandalay, Myanmar. Chanmyathazi is bounded by the Ayeyarwady river in the west, M ...

in the north, and the ancient capital site of Ava (Inwa) in the south. It was the capital of Myanmar twice during the Konbaung period (1783–1821 and 1842–1859) before finally being supplanted by Mandalay north in 1859. It is historically referred to as Taungmyo (Southern City) in relation to Mandalay. Amarapura today is part of Mandalay, as a result of

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. The township is known today for its traditional

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

, and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

casting. It is a popular tourist day-trip destination from Mandalay.

Etymology

''Amarapura'' comes from pi, Amarapura (), which means "The Immortal city".''amara'' = immortality; ''pūra'' = city.

History

Amarapura palace British Embassy Michael Symes 1795

Amarapura was founded by King Bodawpaya of the

Konbaung Dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...

. He founded Amarapura as his new capital in May 1783.Maung Maung Tin Vol. 1 1905: 395 The new capital became a center of Buddhist reforms and learning. In 1800,

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

clergy from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

obtained higher ordination in this city and founded the Amarapura Nikaya (Amarapura sect). In 1810 the town was estimated to contain 170,000 inhabitants, but in that year it was destroyed by fire. Bodawpaya's grandson, King Bagyidaw moved the Court back to Ava in November 1821Maung Maung Tin Vol. 2 1905: 223 and in 1827 the population of Amarapura was estimated at only 30,000. Bagyidaw's successor King Tharrawaddy again moved the royal capital back to Amarapura in February 1842.Maung Maung Tin Vol. 3 1905: 33 In February 1857, King Mindon began building Mandalay as his new capital city, 11 km north of Amarapura. With the royal treasury depleted by the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, Mindon decided to reuse as much material from Amarapura as possible in the construction of Mandalay. The palace buildings were dismantled and moved by elephant to the new location, and the city walls were pulled down for use as building material for roads and railways.Cooler, Konbaung Amarapura Part of the moat is still recognizable near the

Bagaya Monastery Bagaya is a settlement in Senegal in the department Bignona, in the region Ziguinchor Region, in the Casamance area. Bagaya belongs to the rural community of Balinghore in the arrondissement of Tendouck. It is located on the road from Bignona ...

. The city officially ceased being the capital on 23 May 1859 when Mandalay took over that role.Maung Maung Tin Vol. 3 1905: 193 The ruins of the city wall show it to have been a square with a side of about three-quarters of a mile in length. At each corner stood a solid brick pagoda about high. The most remarkable edifice was a celebrated

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, adorned with 250 lofty pillars of gilt wood, and containing a colossal

statue of

the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

. The indigenous Burmese tradition of ''acheik'' textile weaving originates in Amarapura, and became popular during the

Konbaung dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...

, during which

sumptuary law Sumptuary laws (from Latin ''sūmptuāriae lēgēs'') are laws that try to regulate consumption. ''Black's Law Dictionary'' defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expendi ...

s regulated who could wear ''acheik'' clothing. Amarapura, alongside Wundwin, remains a major domestic center of traditional ''acheik'' weaving, although in recent years, cheaper factory-produced imitations from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

have significantly disrupted Myanmar's traditional

cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...

Sights of interest

* Pahtodawgyi (Amarapura) – A

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circum ...

built by King Bodawpaya in 1816 outside the city walls * U Bein Bridge – a wooden footbridge (longest teak bridge in the world) built by the mayor U Bein salvaging the unwanted teak columns from the old palace during the move to Mandalay * Kyauktawgyi Pagoda – A stupa built by

King Pagan King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the t ...

in 1847 at the farther end of U Bein's bridge * Amarapura Palace ruins – containing tombs of King Bodawpaya and King Bagyidaw, and part of the old moat * Maha Gandhayon Monastery - a large modern monastery complex with hundreds of monks and novices, well known throughout the country * Chinese Temple - built in 1838 during King Tharrawaddy's reign * Yadanabon University - A major liberal arts university for students from Mandalay suburbs * Nagayon Temple
Mandalar Degree College
-One of tourism and hospitality management college which co-operated with liberal arts major and well known for its diversities and students from different province.

Photos

File:Monks Crossing Bridge.jpg, Monks Crossing U Bein Bridge at Sunset File:U-Bain-Bridge2.JPG, U Bein Bridge across the Taungthaman Lake U Bein, Buddhist monks 2, Mandalay, Myanmar.jpg , Buddhist monks on U Bein Bridge File:U Bein Bridge, Women with umbrellas, Amarapura, Mandalay, Myanmar.jpg, U Bein Bridge Taungthaman, Tree, Mandalay, Myanmar.jpg, Taungthaman Lake, Amarapura File:Taungthaman Lake at sunset 3, Mandalay, Myanmar.jpg, Sunset over Taungthaman Lake File:Amarapura CityGate.JPG, Old City Gate File:U Bain Bridge1.JPG, U Bein Bridge, detail File:U Bein Bridge View.jpg, U Bein Bridge File:Panoramic view of Amarapura, looking SW.jpg, A panoramic view of Amarapura looking towards the south-west in 1855 by

Colesworthey Grant Colesworthey Grant (sometimes spelt Colesworthy; 25 October 1813 – 31 May 1880) was an English artist, writer and pioneer activist against cruelty to animals in India. Teaching himself art and sketching, he produced numerous portraits of man ...

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

''Wanderings in Burma''
George W. Bird, 1897, Southeast Asia Visions {{Administrative divisions of Burma (Myanmar) Populated places in Mandalay District Townships of Mandalay