Myanmar’s heritage has received a long-awaited boost after UNESCO inscribed three ancient cities on its World Heritage list…
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The country initially applied to have the ancient Pyu Kingdom cities of Hanlin, Beikthano and Sri Kestra included on the UNESCO list in 1996 — a first for Myanmar! They were finally added during the recent 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in Doha.
The sites, which are collectively inscribed under the title of ‘Pyu Ancient Cities’, include the remains of three brick, walled and moated cities, located in the Irrawaddy River basin.
In approving the new sites, UNESCO said the locations “reflect the Pyu Kingdoms that flourished for over 1,000 years between 200BC and 900AD”. While the archaeological sites have only been partially excavated, remains include palace citadels, burial grounds, Buddhist stupas and early industrial production sites.
The Ancient Pyu people spoke a language closely related to Myanmar, and stone inscriptions found in some of their monuments provide the only remaining trace of this language.
The Pyu Kingdom was eventually absorbed into the Bagan Kingdom, but the UNESCO recognition will help preserve the ancient cities, as well as providing a tourism boost to the region.
Myanmar is now looking to add the city of Bagan to the UNESCO list.