Following the fall of Bagan in the 13th century through to complete take over by the British in 1885, numerous kingdoms came and went across the area of modern day Myanmar – occasionally one was strong enough to control most of the country but often power was limited to a smaller area. But there was always some form of political entity based on the central Irrawady plain and the rulers of these built a number of capitals clustered in and around modern day Mandalay (some of them were used more than once and some kingdoms moved their capitals from one to the other!). 5 of these (including Mandalay itself) have been grouped together in this single potential “nomination” straddling all those years.

We visited the 4 non-Mandalay sites in a single day (with car), though perhaps doing it across 2 days is more normal but I don’t feel we missed a lot by crowding it together! I will describe them in the order in which we did them –

a. Amarapura. The last-but-one capital, founded in 1783 by King Bodawpaya. There was a gap in 1821 when the capital was briefly moved back to Ava and then finally the founder’s grandson, King Mindun, decided in 1857 to up-sticks and move everything to a new capital at nearby Mandalay (the area today is a southern suburb of that city) and frankly there is little to see. We were told that part of the moat and the location of the palace were visible but we didn’t see them. The main site is U Bain’s bridge which, at 1.2 kms, claims to be the longest teak bridge in the World! Otherwise it would seem to be of no architectural merit and is without carving or decoration – it is however an atmospheric place crossing a lake nad attractive whether in mist or at sunrise/set. The other locations of interest are religious and include the Maha Ganayon Kyaung where busloads of tourists gather each morning to photo the community of monks receiving their food. We shouldn’t have bothered and should perhaps have crossed the bridge fully (we only went half way!) to the Kyauktawgi Paya of 1847.

b. Inwa (Ava). Between 1365 and 1842 Ava was, on 5 occasions, capital of Burma or at least of an Ava Kingdom which controlled much of Burma. It lies a few kms south of Amarapura and is reached by pedestrian ferry boat across a small tributary of the Irawaddy at their confluence (though Google maps show that you could perfectly easily get there by road by continuing a bit further on the main road over the bridge and turning right!) At the other side you board horse carts for a pleasant ride through surprisingly remote agricultural scenery dotted with ruins. There is a fine teak monastery (Bagay Kyaung) which predates the one in Mandalay which is on the T List, a palace watch tower from the 1822 palace left leaning after an earthquake in 1838 and a cream stucco covered brick royal monastery also from 1822 (Photo). A part of its paintwork was clearly new and we were told that the Archaeology Department had hurriedly had to stop the painting when it discovered that commercial emulsion paint was being used rather than a traditional formula – typical of the sorts of management problems any site wanting UNESCO inscription is going to have to overcome! The area has numerous other stupas, walls etc and, if more time was to be spent on the cities this would be my choice of where to spend it.

c. Sagaing. Was capital of a post-Bagan Shan kingdom from just 1315-1364. It sits across the Irawaddy from Inwa across a modern bridge. Its main claim to fame lies in its religious sites scattered on Sagaing hill. If you like the peace of visiting Buddhist monasteries then you could easily spend a day wandering the small paths which connect them. As far as I am aware there is nothing left of any “Royal city” and we concentrated on a couple of the monasteries at the top of the hill which give a wide view of the whole area. Lots more Buddhas and gold!

d. Mingun. Hardly a “capital” at all (although the T List entry says it was from 1810-19) Mingun is primarily of note for its enormous ruined Stupa. Commenced in 1790, it was still incomplete when King Bodawpaya died in 1819 (some say deliberately so, since it had been prophesied that he would die if it were completed) and was abandoned. It would have been 150m high and only reached a third of this. It is sometimes claimed to be the world’s biggest pile of bricks! An earthquake in 1838 then created enormous cracks across the structure. Ironically there had been another earthquake in the region a few days before our arrival and the walk to the top of the stupa was still closed for safety reasons. The other attraction at Mingun is the “Mingun Bell” – cast for the Monastery, it fell during the earthquake but was re-erected in colonial times and remained the World’s largest ringing bell until as recently as 2000! Mingun on the far side of the Irrawady can, in fact, be reached by road from Sagaing but the normal way to approach it is by boat from Manadalay. A flotilla of hire boats take passengers on a pleasant rip up the Irrawaddy for around and hour and back in 45 minutes. An hour at the site is enough.

Regarding Mandalay, which we visited the previous day. The T List entry is titled “Ancient Cities” (though, having been founded in 1857, Mandalay hardly qualifies for that epithet!) but it is unclear how much of Mandalay would be covered. The T List entry refers to areas producing “traditional artifacts” – but this doesn't seem relevant to a "tangible heritage" nomination! The Royal Palace area, encircled by a moat and wall, was destroyed in WWII and now only contains reconstructed buildings. There are significant original monasteries and temples across the city and Mandalay Hill to the north (where Buddha was supposed to have foretold of Mandalay’s creation 2400 years later!) with its holy sites. The Shweenandaw Kyaung monastery, outside the city walls is also on the Wooden monasteries T List entry. All well worth seeing (though Mandalay city itself is chaotic and ugly – its handicrafts and traditional entertainments are in fact a significant part of its interest albeit not relevant to any WHS status) but where is the authentic OUV?

So will this collection of sites ever be inscribed? I think not in its current form which is unconstrained, illogical and unmanageable! A lot more work needs to be done to decide which bits are of OUV, which link together and which can be appropriately managed! Until then it will remain as a “place marker” on the T List.