Myanmar- Interesting Facts

 

In this article we will find some interesting facts about Country naming Myanmar. Myanmar was earlier known as Burma and it has International borders with China, India, Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand. We will find some of interesting facts about Myanmar in this article: -

1.      Country name was changed to Myanmar from Burma in Year 1989 by Military Junta which was ruling the country at that time. At that time Rangoon also changed to Yangon.

2.      Capital of country is Nay Pyi Taw or Naypyidaw

3.      In this country water festival is celebrated and is known as Thingyan. It is biggest festival of Myanmar and is celebrated to celebrate New year of Burmese.

4.      In Myanmar weight is measured in pounds and distance in inches i.e. they are using imperial system in measurement.

5.      The people specially women of Myanmar carry the things on their heads.

6.      Until year 2005 Yangon was the capital of Myanmar. But all of sudden they changed the capital to Nay Pyi Taw as they developed that city secretly which is 400 Km from the Yangon.

7.      In Myanmar Purebred Burmese cats were kept as royal pets and they were kept by Kings and once King Thibaw was having 40 cats at that time and these cats get disappeared in Year 1930.

8.      In year 1970 Myanmar switched from Left driving to right driving which created so many chaos at that time as you can still find vintage cars there with left hand drive cars.

9.      You can find over there people using Mud smeared over their faces this is called as Thanaka. This is paste made from bark of particular tree. This they are using to protect their face against the sun rays. They also says that that particular cosmetic paste is having anti-ageing properties. Thanaka they are using over 2000 years.

10.   In Myanmar Astrology is taken very seriously. E Thi which was blind and speech impairment was most famous astrologer and her clients were than prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as well as Than Shwe then ex-junta Leader general. She was even named ET as her resemblance to American film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. In Myanmar there are 12 signs of western Zodiac, 8 weekday signs and 27 lunar mansions.

ET earned salary of $7 million from her consultations.

11.  In Yangon The Shwedagon Pagoda(Buddhist Temple in the form of many tiered tower)  is the center of attraction of many people which attracts lot of pilgrims from all over the country. Over 60 tonnes of gold has been used in exterior parts of this Pagoda. On top of this Pagoda there is huge Diamond which is 72 carat.

12.  There are 135 ethnic groups.

13.  The currency used here is Kyat (MMK)

14.  In Myanmar both men and women wear the “longyi”. It is cylindrical piece of cloth which is worn around the waist.

15.  Myanmar is famous for producing Pigeon’s blood rubies which are very precious. Famous places for Burma rubies are Mogook in Northern Burma and Mong Hsu which is about 250 Km east of Mandalay.

The  most ruby of Myanmar was “Graff ruby” which was having weight of 8.62 carats and was sold over $8 million in year 2014.

“The sunrise Ruby” was also of Myanmar which is having weight of 25.59 carats and was sold for more than $30 million.

There are so many rubies which are highly prices in international market came from Myanmar.

16.  Climate of Myanmar is suitable for growing grapes and thus there are 2 famous vineyards Aythaya and Red Mountain Estate.

17.  National flag of Myanmar was adopted on 21^st October 2010.

18.   Myanmar get their Independence from British Empire on 4^th January 1948.

19.  The green Peafowl is the national animal of Myanmar.

20.  National fruit of Myanmar is Rambutan, Scientific name of which is Nephelium lappaceum.

21.  Chinlone which is also called as Caneball is national sport of Myanmar.

22.  Coco Island is one of the famous island of Myanmar. This is volcanic island and is also given the tag UNESCO world heritage site.

23.  Once Myanmar was part of British India and was separated from British India in 1937.

24.  As here you can find so many Pagodas so this is known as “The land of The Golden Pagodas”.

25.  The Shwedagon Pagoda exists since the lifetime of Bhagwan Budha and it is more than 2500 years old.

26.  There is another famous pagoda in Myanmar naming as Mahamuni Paya which is more than 2000 years old and is 13 feet tall. The devotes here apply gold on it and now the structure of pagoda has 6-inch thickness of gold.

27.  Once there was giant Bell in the Famous Shwedagon pagoda which has weight around 300 tonnes which was built in 5^th February 1484 by King Dhammazedi of Hanthawaddy Pegu. But in 1608 the bell was removed by Portuguese De Brito to melt the bell and make into cannon but the ship on which it was loaded couldn’t able to take the weight of bell and bell went to bottom along with ship.  Many people tried to find the bell but it is never found.

28.  It is largest Buddhist country in the world it has population of 55 millions.