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Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in
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 C. Wells, Joh ...
(Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of
Thaton Thaton (; mnw, သဓီု ) is a town in Mon State, in southern Myanmar on the Tenasserim plains. Thaton lies along the National Highway 8 and is also connected by the National Road 85. It is 230 km south east of Yangon and 70 km n ...
, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. The first
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of
British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, the city is currently the capital and largest city of
Mon State Mon State ( my, မွန်ပြည်နယ်, ; mnw, တွဵုရးဍုင်မန်, italics=no) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It lies between Kayin State to the east, the Andaman Sea to the west, Bago Region to the ...
and the main trading centre and seaport in south eastern Myanmar.


Etymology and legend

The
Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...
name which was previously used for Mawlamyine, ''Moulmein'' (; ) means "damaged eye" or "one-eyed man." According to legend, a
Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...
king had a powerful third eye in the centre of his forehead, able to see what was happening in neighbouring kingdoms. The daughter of one of the neighbouring kings was given in marriage to the three-eyed king and managed to destroy the third eye. The Burmese name "Mawlamyine" is believed to be a corruption of the Mon name. Moulmein was also spelled as ''Maulmain or Moulmain or Maulmein'' in some records of the 19th century. The people of Moulmein were referred as ''Moulmeinian.''


History


Early history


Early Mon reigns

According to
Kalyani Inscriptions The ''Kalyani Inscriptions'' ( my, ကလျာဏီကျောက်စာ), located in Bago, Burma (Myanmar), are the stone inscriptions erected by King Dhammazedi of Hanthawaddy Pegu between 1476 and 1479. Located at the Kalyani Ordinatio ...
erected by King Dhammazedi of
Hanthawaddy Pegu (Mon) ( Burmese) , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Hongsarwatoi (Hanthawaddy) Pegu , common_name = Hongsarwatoi (Hanthawaddy) Kingdom / Ramannya (Ramam) , era = Warring states , status = Kingdom , event_pre ...
in 1479, Mawlamyine was mentioned among the ‘32 myo’ or thirty-two
Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...
cities within the Martaban division. Binnya U, a deputy of Viceroy
Saw Binnya Saw Binnya ( my, စောဗညား, ; died 1541) was viceroy of Martaban (Mottama) from c. 1510s to 1539, and the self-proclaimed king of the rump Hanthawaddy Kingdom from 1539 to 1541. First appointed viceroy of Martaban, one of the three ...
, was one of the notable governors of Mawlamyine in the early history of the city.


Toungoo dynasty

In May 1541, King Tabinshwehti and his deputy Bayinnaung captured Mawlamyine. During the reign of Bayinnaung,
Toungoo Empire The First Toungoo Empire ( my, တောင်ငူ ခေတ်, ; also known as the First Toungoo Dynasty, the Second Burmese Empire or simply the Toungoo Empire) was the dominant power in mainland Southeast Asia in the second half of the ...
became the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia. After his passing in 1581, his son Nanda Bayin and successors faced with rebellion by
Lan Na The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...
, Siam, Lan Xang and renewed Portuguese incursions. In 1594, the governor of Mawlamyine who being in league with Siamese King Naresuan revolted against Toungoo court. Since then, the city became under the control of Siam (present-day Thailand) until 1614.


Konbaung dynasty

In 1760, General
Minkhaung Nawrahta Minkhaung Nawrahta ( my, မင်းခေါင် နော်ရထာ ; c. 1714 – 5 December 1760) was a general of the Royal Burmese Army of the Konbaung Dynasty during the reign of King Alaungpaya. He is best known for his rearguard defen ...
of the
Royal Burmese Army The Royal Armed Forces ( my, တပ်မတော်,See (Maha Yazawin 2006: 26), (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 236), (Hmannan Vol. 2 2012: 2) for example. ) were the armed forces of the Burmese monarchy from the 9th to 19th centuries. It refers ...
repaired Mawlamyine on his way back from Burmese–Siamese War in
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
(former capital of Thailand). Kyaikthanlan Pagoda Inscription hinted that in 1764 (1125 ME), General
Maha Nawrahta Gen. Maha Nawrahta ( my, မဟာနော်ရထာ, , called Mang Maha Noratha by Damrong Rajanubhab; d. March 1767) was joint commander-in-chief of the Royal Burmese Army from 1765 to 1767. The general is best known for commanding the southe ...
repaired Kyaikthanlan Pagoda on his way to capture Tavoy, and before finishing the repairment, Mawlamyine faced utter destruction.


Colonial Moulmein (1824–1948)

Mawlamyine was the
first capital First London was a bus company operating services in east and west Greater London, England. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and operated buses under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in the late 1990s through the acquisition o ...
of
British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
between 1826 and 1852 after the
Tanintharyi Tanintharyi or Taninthayi (widely known during the British occupation and since as Tenasserim) is a small town in Taninthayi Township, Myeik District, in the Tanintharyi Region of south-western Myanmar. It is the administrative seat for the town ...
(Tenassarim) coast, along with Arakan, was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Yandabo at the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War. After the first Anglo-Burmese war, the British made it their capital between 1826 and 1852, building government offices, churches and a massive prison. They started business enterprises and the country's first newspaper, '' The Maulmain Chronicle''. Between 1826 and 1862, colonial Mawlamyine was the center of British Burma and the first port city that became a strategically important area and a geographical nodal point for the newly occupied British territory in Southeast Asia. Ever since the first British occupation in 1824, the growth and prosperity of Mawlamyine had steadily increased due to timber trade. Nevertheless, the decline in prosperity of Mawlamyine began when the supply of marketable timber from Salween Valley started to decrease in the 1890s. During British colonial times, Germany, Siam, Persia, Denmark, Norway and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
opened and maintained consulates in Mawlamyine led by either
consuls A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
or vice-consuls while Italy and the United States placed consular agencies in Mawlamyine.
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
explorer
Johann Wilhelm Helfer Johann Wilhelm Helfer also known as Jan Vilém Helfer (February 5, 1810 in Prague – January 30, 1840 in Andaman Islands) was a Bohemian physician, explorer and naturalist. He died in the Andaman Islands, after the group he was in was attacked b ...
's landing at Moulmein shore on 8 February 1837 made him as the first German to arrive Burma in the history. Mawlamyine was the setting of
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
's famous 1936 memoir '' Shooting an Elephant''. The essay opens with the striking words: :"In Moulmein, in
Lower Burma Lower Myanmar ( my, အောက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta (Ayeyarwady Region, Ayeyarwady, Bago Region, Bago and Yangon Regions), as we ...
, I was hated by large numbers of people—the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me." During colonial times, Moulmein had a substantial
Anglo-Burmese The Anglo-Burmese people, also known as the Anglo-Burmans, are a community of Eurasians of Burmese and European descent, who emerged as a distinct community through mixed relationships (sometimes permanent, sometimes temporary) between the Brit ...
population. An area of the city was known as "Little England" due to the large Anglo-Burmese community, many of them running rubber plantations. This has since dwindled to a handful of families as most have left for the UK or Australia. It was probably best known to English speakers through the opening lines of Rudyard Kipling's poem ''
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 fo ...
'': :"By the old Moulmein pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea :There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me". During WWII, the city and the Tanintharyi Region were the first objectives during the Japanese invasion of Burma.


"The old Moulmein pagoda" - Kyaik Than Lan

The "old Moulmein pagoda" Kipling cites is thought to be the Kyaik Than Lan (also spelled Kyaikthanlan) pagoda in Mawlamyine.Mawlamyine.com Kyaikthanlan pagoda page
Accessed 16 August 2015.
It stands on a ridge, giving a panoramic view of the city, and is surrounded by 34 smaller temples. Among its sacred treasures is a hair relic of Buddha,Happy Footprints
. Accessed 16 August 2015
received from a hermit in Thaton,W. Vivian De Thabreuw, ''Buddhist Monuments and Temples of Myanmar and Thailand'' (Authorhouse, 11 March 2014). E-book. . as well as a tooth relic conveyed 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 ...
by a delegation of monks in ancient times.


Contemporary Mawlamyine

Soon after Burma's independence in 1948, the city fell into the hands of Karen insurgents. The
Myanmar military Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include th ...
retook the city with the help of UBS Mayu in 1950. Later, many colonial names of streets and parks of the city were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. Mawlamyine stood as the third-largest city of Myanmar until the recent rise of Naypyidaw.


Geography

Mawlamyine is in the Salween River
delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...
, where the mouth of the Salween is sheltered by Bilugyun Island as it enters the Gulf of Martaban and the
Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...
. It is flanked by low hills dotted with ancient pagodas to the east and west.


Climate

Mawlamyine has a tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen: ''Am'') similar to the climates of Dawei and Sittwe. There is a lengthy dry season between mid-November and mid-April, and an extremely wet season due to the southwest monsoon between mid-April and mid-November. Between June and August when the surface westerly winds are strongest and supersaturated air is advected onto the nearby mountains, Mawlamyine averages around of rain per month.


Transport


Airport

Mawlamyine Airport Mawlamyine Airport (formerly Moulmein Airport) is an airport in Mawlamyine (Moulmein), Myanmar . History Mawlamyine (Moulmein) Airport was initially established in 1941. During World War II, it was a Royal Air Force field. It was used not onl ...
has regular flights to Yangon (Rangoon).


Bus and taxis

Mawlamyine is the main gateway to south eastern Myanmar. Thanlwin Bridge, the longest road and rail bridge in Myanmar is the most prominent landmark in the area. It stretches over the Thanlwin River connecting the country's south eastern region with Yangon. The city has central highway bus station. The city is connected to Pa-an in Kayin State in the north-east and Dawei and Myeik in Tanintharyi Division in the south by road. Via
Kawkareik Kawkareik (; my, ကော့ကရိတ်, ; ksw, ဒူဖျၢ်ယၢ်ဝ့ၢ်ဖိ) also spelled as Kawkarike, is a town in Karen State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Kawkaraik District and Kawkaraik Township. History The K ...
, the city is also connected with Thai-Myanmar border town Myawaddy. Newly opened Bogyoke Aung San Bridge (Bilu Kyun) connects Mawlamyine with nearby
Bilu island Bilu Island ( my, ဘီလူးကျွန်း; mnw, တေကာ့ခမိုင်း; Bilu Kyun, lit. "ogre island") is a Deltaic island of Salween(Thanlwin) River in Chaungzon Township, Mon State, located west of Mawlamyine. The isl ...
, lies about 500 metres west off the shore of Mawlamyine. In Mawlamyine, motorcycles and tuk-tuk (Thone Bee in Burmese) motorized tricycles cumulatively registered for use as taxis. Mawlamyine is also served by bus networks which radiate mostly from the north to the south.


Railways

It was the rail head to Ye, linked to Yangon by rail only from Mottama (Martaban) across the river by ferry, but today connected by the Thanlwin Bridge (Mawlamyine) opened in April 2006.
Mawlamyine Railway Station Mawlamyine railway station ( my, မော်လမြိုင် ဘူတာ) is a railway station located in Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar on Myanmar Railways' Bago-Mawlamyine-Dawei line. The two-story station is long and wide, and has a t ...
, which was reportedly built to the standards of an " ASEAN railway station", is the terminus of Myanmar Railways' Bago-Mawlamyine- Dawei line from Yangon.


Water transport

In colonial era, Mawlamyine (then Moulmein) port was served by European shipping companies including
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
-owned British-India Steam Navigation Company and
Irrawaddy Flotilla Company The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company (IFC) was a passenger and cargo ferry company, which operated services on the Irrawaddy River in Burma, now Myanmar. The IFC was Scottish-owned, and was managed by P Henderson & Company from Glasgow. The IFC operated ...
. The port was important not only for inland navigation but also for international shipping. Rice and teak from sawmills at Mawlamyine were exported worldwide by those shipping companies. The 1880 handbook of British-India Steam Navigation Company listed: * Calcutta - Rangoon - Moulmein (started in 1857) * Moulmein -
Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...
-
Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
- Singapore (started in 1862) * Moulmein - Penang - Colombo - Bombay lines in operations. In 1894, the journey between Barr Street Jetty of Rangoon to the Main Wharf of Moulmein took about nine hours at a fare of 10
Rupee Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...
s for second class. Nowadays, although much diminished from its past prominence, water-based transport still plays an important role in connecting between Mawlamyine and the immediate upstream towns. The Port of Mawlamyine is currently under the management of Myanma Port Authority and is located on the Thanlwin River about 28 nautical miles inland from the Kyaikkhame point on the Gulf of Martaban, 2 kilometers from
Mawlamyine railway station Mawlamyine railway station ( my, မော်လမြိုင် ဘူတာ) is a railway station located in Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar on Myanmar Railways' Bago-Mawlamyine-Dawei line. The two-story station is long and wide, and has a t ...
.


Cityscape


Around the city


Heritage buildings

*
Kyaikthanlan Pagoda The Kyaikthanlan Pagoda ( my, ကျိုက်သလ္လံ စေတီ) is the tallest Burmese pagoda, Buddhist pagoda in Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar, standing at a height of . Built in 875 AD during the reign of Mon kingdoms, Mon Kin ...
: It was built in 875 AD during the reign of Mon King Mutpi Raja, it was raised from its original height of to the present by successive kings including
Wareru Wareru ( mnw, ဝါရေဝ်ရောဝ်, my, ဝါရီရူး, ; also known as Wagaru; 20 March 1253 – 14 January 1307) was the founder of the Martaban Kingdom, located in present-day Myanmar (Burma). By using both diplomatic a ...
, founder of the Kingdom of Hanthawaddy Pegu. In 1831, to prevent Moulmein's identity from fading away, Sitke Maung
Htaw Lay Burmese honorific, Maung Htaw Lay ( my, မောင်ထော်လေး, ; also spelled Maung Taulay; 1776–1869 or 1871) was Magistrate of Mawlamyaing, Moulmein (Mawlamyine) from 1838 to 1853 during the early British rule in Burma, Britis ...
, who later served as Magistrate of Moulmein restored the pagoda with the funds raised by public subscriptions. Being situated on the range of hill, the pagoda overlooks the city, nearby islands, Gulf of Martaban, surrounding rivers and the limestone mountains of
Kayin State Kayin State ( my, ကရင်ပြည်နယ်, ; kjp, ဖၠုံခါန်ႋကၞင့်, italics=no; ksw, ကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်, ), also known by the endonyms Kawthoolei and Karen State, is a state of Myanmar. The ca ...
in the east. Rudyard Kipling is believed to have written his famous "Lookin' lazy at the sea" line at this pagoda in 1890. * * U-zina Pagoda: The pagoda is one of the principal pagodas situated on the range of hill. According to legend, the pagoda contains a hair of Buddha and was built during the reign of King Ashoka, the great protector of Buddhism. The U-zina pagoda was named after the sage, U-zina who restored it in 1838. Prior to this the pagoda had been known as Kyaik Pa-dhan pagoda. * Princess Ashin Hteik Suhpaya's tomb: Princess Ashin Hteik Suhpaya (also known as Princess Myat Phaya Galay) who was the fourth daughter of King Thibaw, the last king of Konbaung dynasty returned to Burma from exile in 1915 and lived at her mansion on West Cantonment Road, Mawlamyine until her death in 1936. Her tomb is located near Kyaikthanlan Pagoda. The remains of her son, Prince Taw Phaya Nge and her daughter, Princess Hteik Su Phaya Htwe were also buried in the tomb in the later years. * First Baptist Church: The church is Myanmar's first Baptist church and it was initially built in 1827 by the legendary
Adoniram Judson Adoniram Judson (August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850) was an American Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Judson was sent from North America to preach in B ...
, a 19th-century American missionary who compiled the first Burmese-English dictionary. The church is regarded as a landmark for its significance to the Baptist movement worldwide. * St Matthew's Church: It was the first
English Church The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
(Anglican Church) built in Myanmar. It was initially erected in 1832 and the current handsome structure was rebuilt in 1887. It was designed and restored by the English architects James Piers St Aubyn and Henry J. Wadling of London and the foundation stone was laid by Sir Charles Crosthwaite, then Chief Commissioner of Burma. It is of red brick, the capitals of interior pillars being stone, and is said to be a model of English Church at Dresden.
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
attended the church during his days as Imperial Policeman in Moulmein in 1926 and the church compound has grave stones of his relatives. During the
Japanese conquest of Burma The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign (December 1941 to mid-1942) ...
in WWII, the Japanese Army stored salt in the church. Though the church is still in use, it is in a state of decay and is in urgent need of conservation. * St Patrick's Church: The St Patrick's Roman Catholic church was built in 1829; the French people constructed the clock tower of the church around 1854. St Patrick's school in the church compound was once a boarding school for the children of the elite in colonial times. The tragic love story of Thailand's Prince Sukkasem, the heir to the Lanna throne, and a Mon commoner girl started during his time at this school in the 1890s and was immortalised in Thai folk song and literature. *
Police Commissioner Headquarters The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...
: Built in 1826 on a hill in Than Lwin Park. The impressive colonial building was the place where George Orwell worked as Assistant District Superintendent in 1926. * Old Moulmein Prison: The Mawlamyine's colonial-era prison was initially built in the 1830s. Sir
Richard Hieram Sankey Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Hieram Sankey (22 March 1829 – 11 November 1908) was an officer in the Royal (Madras) Engineers in the East India Company's army in British India, later transferring to the British Army after the Indian Rebellio ...
, an Irish military engineer who is credited with designing much of the infrastructure of the Indian city of Bangalore, used to work at this prison as Superintendent of the jail in 1860. George Orwell was believed to have witnessed hanging there and it is the setting of his short story " A Hanging (1931)". During WWII, following the Fall of Singapore in 1942,
Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
soldiers transferred from Changi Prison were held in the Moulmein Prison by the Imperial Japanese Army before they were sent to the notorious death railway construction. In 2015, the prison was closed and relocated to a new facility near Yedwingone village in Kyaikmawyaw township. * Yadanabonmyint Monastery: It is also known as Queen Seindon Monastery. It is known for its craftsmanship.


Islands

*
Bilu Island Bilu Island ( my, ဘီလူးကျွန်း; mnw, တေကာ့ခမိုင်း; Bilu Kyun, lit. "ogre island") is a Deltaic island of Salween(Thanlwin) River in Chaungzon Township, Mon State, located west of Mawlamyine. The isl ...
(Belu-kyun): The local meaning of the island's name is Ogre Island. The island is famous for handicraft and
Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...
traditional culture. * Gaungsay Kyun Island (Shampoo Island): A tiny island lies between Mottama and the north bank of Mawlamyine is called Gaungsay Kyun island, literally: "Head Washing Island". In ancient times, the clear pristine water obtained from a small rocky outcrop of the island was carried to the palace and used by Burmese kings at royal hair-washing ceremonies during
Thingyan Thingyan (, ; Arakanese: ; from Sanskrit '' saṁkrānti,'' which means "transit f the Sun from Pisces to Aries) is the Burmese New Year Festival that usually occurs in middle of April. Thingyan is the first ever water festival celebrated in ...
. In colonial days, the island was known in its European name "Crow Island" for being the home of all the crows in the city.


Others

*
Mon State Cultural Museum The Mon State Cultural Museum ( Burmese: မွန်ယဉ်ကျေးမှုပြတိုက်), formerly Mon Ethnic Cultural Museum, is a museum located at No 50, Htawai Bridge Road & Baho Road, in Mawlamyine, Mon State in Myanmar. It wa ...
(Mon Ethnic Cultural Museum) * Mottama (formerly Martaban): A small town located opposite to the north bank of Mawlamyine was the first capital of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries after the collapse of
Pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
(Bagan) Empire in 1287. During
Burmese–Siamese wars The Burmese–Siamese wars also known as the Yodian wars (), were a series of wars fought between Burma and Siam from the 16th to 19th centuries.Harvey, pp. xxviii-xxx.James, p. 302. Toungoo (Burma)–Ayutthaya (Siam) Konbaung (Burma)–Ayutth ...
between the 16th and 18th centuries, Martaban was an important rallying spot for Burmese troops moving from Upper Burma to sack
Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...
. Between 2nd-century BCE and 15th-century CE, Martaban was a main trading port in the historic Maritime Silk Road that connects Korea,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent,
Ceylon 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 ...
,
Arabian peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
, Horn of Africa and all the way to Egypt and eventually Rome or Europe. The ''Martaban jars'' were imported and got its namesake from this Martaban port city as early as the fourteenth century. * Pa-Auk Forest Monastery : The main monastery complex and meditation centre is located in a forest near Pa-Auk village along the Taung Nyo Mountain range 15 kilometers southeast of Mawlamyine. The monastery is known for the practice of meditation. 500–1000 meditators from over 20 countries reside in the monastery. *
Win Sein reclining Buddha Win or WIN may refer to: * A victory Arts and entertainment Film * ''Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), a 2121 novel by Harlan Coben * WIN (pacifist magazine), published by the War Resisters League * WIN (wrestli ...
: 29 km south of Mawlamyine is the world's largest reclining Buddha at
Mudon Mudon ( my, မုဒုံမြို့; mnw, မိုဟ်ပ္ဍုၚ်) is a town in the Mon State of south-east Myanmar, south of Mawlamyine. Mudon lies along the highway that links Mawlamyine to Thanbyuzayat, Kyaik-kami (Amherst) ...
. It is approached by a roadway with 500 life size statues of Arahant disciples of Buddha and a hall whose chamber walls display scenes of Buddha's lifetime, and the underworld. *
Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery The Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery ( Burmese: သံဖြူဇရပ်စစ်သင်္ချိုင်း) is a prisoner of war cemetery for victims of Japanese imprisonment who died building the Death Railway in Burma. It is at the Burmes ...
: 64 kilometers south of Mawlamyine is prisoners-of-war cemetery and the notorious death railway connected with the Bridge over the River Kwai. The cemetery contains the graves of 3,770 British, Australian, Dutch and other soldiers. It was formally opened on 10 December 1946 by General Aung San and then Governor Sir
Hubert Rance Major General Sir Hubert Elvin Rance (17 July 1898 – 24 January 1974) was a British politician who was the last Governor of British Burma between 1946 and 1948, during the transition from Japanese to British colonial administration. Later he ...
.


Economy

Mawlamyine is famous for its tropical fruits and for its
cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...
as indicated in the popular Burmese expression, "
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 fo ...
for the speaking, Yangon for the bragging, and Mawlamyine for the eating." ( မန္တလေးစကား ရန်ကုန်အကြွား မော်လမြိုင်အစား) Among its tropical fruits, Mawlamyine pomelo,
durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the onl ...
and rambutan are traded countrywide. Mawlamyine had several sawmills and
rice mill A rice mill is a food-processing facility where paddy is processed to rice to be sold in the market. The entire product is procured from paddy fields, milled and processed hygienically in modern machinery and dust-free environment and cleaned t ...
s as teak and rice were transported down the Salween. It was once a busy shipbuilding center and remains an important port. At least one major British shipping line had some of their ships built here. The teak "country-built" ships generally had a longer service life than those constructed from European hardwoods. The city had a solar-powered plant for extracting salt from seawater and a diesel electric plant. On the night of 1 December 2008, a fire that started from a
floating restaurant A floating restaurant is a vessel, usually a large steel barge or hulk, used as a restaurant on water. The ''Jumbo Kingdom'', formerly located at Aberdeen in Hong Kong, was at one time the world's largest floating restaurant, until it sank at s ...
destroyed the larger of city's two markets called the lower
bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...
.


Industry

The city has two industrial zones. Of two, the newly opened Kyauktan industrial zone features a variety of different business enterprises, including zinc, barbed wire, ready-mix cement, food and drink production, textiles, gold purification, ice factories, shoe production facilities, furniture enterprise, plastic enterprises, cool seafood storage and car accessory businesses. As a cross-border investment, the state-of-the-art combined-cycle gas power plant in Mawlamyine was constructed by Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) backed Singapore company Asiatech Energy. The Mawlamyine power plant brings a sustainable supply of power to residents and businesses in Mon State. In July 2017, to make the country's
oil and gas industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...
more efficient, the
Myanmar Investment Commission The Myanmar Investment Commission ( my, မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ရင်းနှီးမြှုပ်နှံမှု ကော်မရှင်, abbreviated MIC) is a government-appointed body under the Ministry of Inv ...
(MIC) granted an approval to a subsidiary of Singapore-based firm to construct an offshore supply base in the 46 acres of river front land of Mawlamyine. It would provide a wide range of services to the operators of
oil and gas field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in Porosity, porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the ...
s in the waters off the coast in the Bay of Bengal.


Transport hub

Mawlamyine is the western terminus and an important part of the East-West Economic Corridor. The 1450-kilometre east–west economic corridor links the South China Sea at
Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
to Mawlamyine through
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
and Thailand. By using the East-West Economic Corridor, the travel time between Bangkok and Yangon is just three days, compared with the two to three weeks needed for conventional marine transportation via the
Straits of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...
.
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
's
Nippon Express is a Japanese global logistics services company. It is based in Tokyo and is owned by Nippon Express Holdings (). Its shareholding is dominated by banks and financial institutions mostly related to the Mizuho (Mizuho Financial Group) and Sumi ...
started land transportation services between Thailand and Myanmar in 2016.


Flora

File:Mawlamyine pomelo.JPG, Mawlamyine Pomelo File:Mawlamyine durians.jpg,
Durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the onl ...
File:Mawlamyine rubber.jpg, Rubber plantation File:Mawlamyine Vegetation.jpg, Durian plantation File:Moulmein rosewood.jpg,
Moulmein Rosewood ''Millettia peguensis'', the Moulmein rosewood (Bengali: তূমা Tuma), is a legume tree species in the genus ''Millettia''. It is native to Lower Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA ...
File:Mafai1619.JPG, ''
Baccaurea ramiflora ''Baccaurea ramiflora'',Lour. (1790) In: ''Fl. Cochinch.'': 661 the Burmese grape, is a slow-growing evergreen tree in the family Phyllanthaceae, growing to 25 m, with a spreading crown and thin bark. It is native to Asia, from Nepal in the west, ...
'' File:Paphiopedilum parishii (Rchb. f.) Stein, drawn by Charles Parish, painted by Eleanor Parish - 1867.png, Paphiopedilum parishii, native to Moulmein discovered by
Charles Parish Charles Samuel Pollock Parish (18221897) was an Anglo-Indian clergyman and botanist who served as chaplain to the forces of the Honourable East India Company in Burma. With his wife Eleanor he collected and painted plants, chiefly orchids, ...
and wife File:Tuni (Kashmiri- तूनी) (2560742630).jpg,
Moulmein Cedar ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the Meliaceae, mahogany family (biology), family which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other ...


Culture

Mawlamyine provides a multicultural dimension despite a Buddhist
Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...
majority. Buddhist cultural dominance is as old as Mawlamyine, but the British
annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
and American missionaries in the early 19th century introduced Christianity. Many of the relics of the British Raj remain along with Hindu temples, Chinese temples, mosques and even a slice of Americana, reflecting Mawlamyine's great diversity. The First Baptist Church in Mawlamyine was constructed in 1827 by the legendary
Adoniram Judson Adoniram Judson (August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850) was an American Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Judson was sent from North America to preach in B ...
, the first Caucasian Protestant missionary sent from
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
to Myanmar. The building is a masterful blend of Western and local elements, with the materials and building technology speaking directly to Mon cultural traditions and crafts expertise. In 2015, the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar announced that it gave an award of $125,000 to
World Monuments Fund (WMF) World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...
to restore the historic First Baptist Church in Mawlamyine through the
Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation The Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation is one of many programs run by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as part of its mission of public diplomacy through educational and cultural programming and ...
. The Mon State Cultural Museum exhibits the ancient cultural relics of Mon people and divans used by a Konbaung princess who resided in Mawlamyine.


Education

Mawlamyine has 13 public high schools, two institutes, a college and three universities. The
University of Mawlamyine Mawlamyine University (also the University of Mawlamyine; my, မော်လမြိုင် တက္ကသိုလ် ), located in Mawlamyine, is the largest university in Mon State, Myanmar. Being established in 1953, Mawlamyine Univers ...
, established in 1953, is the major university for the south eastern region and offers both bachelor's and master's degree programs in liberal arts and sciences. It is the third oldest Arts and Science university in the country after the
University of Yangon '') , mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom. , established = , type = Public , rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun , undergrad = 4194 , postgrad = 5748 , city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon , state = Yangon Regio ...
(est. 1878) and the
University of Mandalay Mandalay University (also translated as University of Mandalay; my, မန္တလေးတက္ကသိုလ် ) is a public liberal arts and science university located in Mandalay, Myanmar and one of the sixteen autonomous universities un ...
(est. 1925). It is one of the few universities in Myanmar that offers a degree in Marine Science. Its Marine Science Laboratory in
Setse Setse( Burmese: စက်စဲကမ်းခြေ) is a beach resort on the Gulf of Martaban of the Andaman Sea in Thanbyuzayat Township, of Mon State, in southern Myanmar.Reid, Robert and Grosberg, Michael (2005) ''Myanmar (Burma)'' (9th e ...
, a coastal town about 83 km south of Mawlamyine, was the first of its kind in Myanmar. Technological University (Mawlamyine) offers technological and engineering courses. The Mawlamyine campus of Yezin Agricultural University, administered by Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI), offers agriculture courses.
Government Technical Institute (Mawlamyine) The Government Technical Institute, Mawlamyine ( my, အစိုးရစက်မှုလက်မှုသိပ္ပံ (မော်လမြိုင်)) is an Institute of technology and engineering located in Mawlamyine, Mon State, Bur ...
offers vocational engineering courses located in outskirts of the city.
Mawlamyine Education College Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...
and
Mawlamyine Institute of Education Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...
are also located in the city. The St. Patrick's School (now B.E.H.S. No. 5) founded by the
De La Salle Brothers french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...
in 1860, Morton Lane-Judson School, (formerly Morton Lane Girls' School, now B.E.H.S No.6) founded in 1867 and Shin Maha Buddhaghosa National School (now B.E.H.S. No.9) founded in 1899 are a few of the oldest public high schools in Myanmar. The first international student of Bucknell University, Class of 1864, Maung Shaw Loo was the first Burmese physician of Western medicine and the first Burmese to study Western medicine in the United States.


Sports

The 10,000-seat
Yamanya Stadium Yamanya Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, located in downtown Mawlamyine, Myanmar. Yamanya Stadium also hosts other local and regional football tournaments. Now, this stadium is under construction. Southern Myanmar F.C., Southern Myanmar F.C ...
is one of the main venues for local and regional football tournaments. The stadium is also a home for
Southern Myanmar F.C. Southern Myanmar Football Club is a Burmese football club, based in Mawlamyine, Myanmar. The club was a founding member of the Myanmar National League (MNL) in 2009. The club represents the Mon State, Kayin State and Tanintharyi Region in southe ...
, a
Myanmar National League The MPT Myanmar National League ( my, မြန်မာ နေရှင်နယ် လိဂ်; abbreviated MNL) is the premier national professional football league of Myanmar. In 2009, the league replaced the Myanmar Premier League, which co ...
(MNL) football club.


Health care


Public Hospitals

* Mawlamyine Women and Children Hospital (former Ellen Mitchell Memorial Hospital) * Mawlamyine General Hospital * Mawlamyine Christian Leprosy Hospital *Mawlamyine University Hospital * Mawlamyine Traditional Medicine Hospital


International relations


Sister cities

Mawlamyine established a Friendship City agreement with Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States in 2016. A
student exchange program A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but doe ...
between Mawlamyine University and IPFW of Fort Wayne began in 2017.


Others

A primary road in Novena, Singapore and a road ('' Solok Moulmein'') in George Town, Malaysia were named after the city's old name, Moulmein.


Gallery

File:Kyaik Tan Lan.JPG,
Kyaikthanlan Pagoda The Kyaikthanlan Pagoda ( my, ကျိုက်သလ္လံ စေတီ) is the tallest Burmese pagoda, Buddhist pagoda in Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar, standing at a height of . Built in 875 AD during the reign of Mon kingdoms, Mon Kin ...
at night File:Mon King bell.JPG, Old bell donated by Mon King in AD 1533 File:Mawlamyine Railway Station.JPG, Mawlamyine Railway Station File:Mawlamyine 20.JPG, Thanlwin public park File:Sunset over Thanlwin River (8).jpg, Sunset over Salween (Than Lwin) River File:Mawlamyine 253.JPG, Technological University (Mawlamyine) File:Mawlamyine Coach Station.JPG, Mawlamyine Coach Station File:Mawlamyine MMR011001701, Myanmar (Burma) - panoramio (51).jpg, Queen Sein Don Monastery File:Moulmein 2 - panoramio.jpg, A roundabout in Mawlamyine File:Mawlamyine MMR011001701, Myanmar (Burma) - panoramio (42).jpg, St Patrick's School (now BEHS 5) File:Ataran suspension bridge.jpg, Attaran Suspension Bridge File:Mon State Government Office.jpg, Victorian style clock tower (Mon State Government Office in the distance) File:Church in Mawlamyine.jpg, Saint Patrick Church (Mawlamyine) File:U Zee Na Pagoda 2.jpg, U-zina Pagaoda / Kyaik Pa-dhan pagoda File:Mawlamyine MMR011001701, Myanmar (Burma) - panoramio (17).jpg, A jetty in Mawlamyine


See also

*
University of Mawlamyine Mawlamyine University (also the University of Mawlamyine; my, မော်လမြိုင် တက္ကသိုလ် ), located in Mawlamyine, is the largest university in Mon State, Myanmar. Being established in 1953, Mawlamyine Univers ...
*
Thanlwin Bridge (Mawlamyine) Thanlwin Bridge (Mawlamyaing) was the longest bridge in Myanmar before the construction of Pakokku Bridge, Pakouku Bridge and connects the city of Mawlamyaing with Mottama. Constructed at the confluence of the Thanlwin River, the Gyaing River and ...
* Mon people *
Attaran Bridge Attaran Bridge () is a bridge in the township of Mawlamyine, in the Mon State of Burma. It is suspended by steel cable with a reinforced concrete foundation. It is long and wide and was reported to have cost K 580.6 million.Sittoung Bridge The Sittaung Bridge at Moppalin ( my, စစ်တောင်းတံတား (မုပ္ပလင်)) is a steel bridge spanning the Sittaung river between Waw, Bago Region and Moppalin, Mon State of Myanmar. The bridge is long, and has a ...
(Bilin) * Kyaiktiyo Pagoda * Pa-Auk Sayadaw


References


External links


Photos of MoulmeinMawlamyine
'' Weather Underground''
Tide table
''Tides Chart'' {{Authority control Township capitals of Myanmar Populated places in Mon State Old Cities of Mon people Ports and harbours of Myanmar Ports and harbours of the Indian Ocean