HOT Magazine HOT Magazine Issue - 9, 10 Volume 5 | Page 41

U Bein - worlds longest teak bridge
T
here are cities in the world
which just have the right
mix of ingredients to make
of them authentic bastions
of cultural diversity, coalescing
history with heterogeneity and a
chaos with a scrupulous architecture.
While there are a handful of these
the world around, few are as rich in
history as the one which features in
this month’s Let’s Go. Mixing rich
Burmese heritage along with colonial
traits as well as a very extensive mix
of cultural diversity, this September,
we travel to Mandalay, the economic
and historic hub of upper Myanmar.
Those familiar with Asian terms
will have already noticed the
curious term embedded in the city’s
name. Mandalay, which is named
after the nearby Mandalay Hill,
bears the term “mandala” in it.
Mandalas are spiritual and symbols
of religions such as Buddhism, but
also Hinduism, which represent the
world around us. Often symmetrical
and very meticulously crafted, they
represent soundness and balance,
in masterpieces often mesmerizing
due to their sober complexity. It’s
this that we could compare this
former ancient capital too, as many
of its ancient maps display a neatly
ordered city, in carefully crafted
square blocks and central districts
which outstretch in synch. Founded
and commissioned as the new
capital of Burma during the mid
19th century, Mandalay became
king Mindon’s wish to mark the
auspicious anniversary celebrating
the 2,400th jubilee of Buddhism.
Carefully crafted and surrounded
by the flows of three different
rivers, Mandalay became one of the
economic hubs of the region amid
flows of beautifully engineered
infrastructure and architecture.
HOT Magazine
41