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With a sign welcoming you that proclaims “Capital
of the Northwest, Monywa Must do Better Than Other Towns,” it’s not surprising
that Monywa is not high on the list for the tourist or backpacker. However for
the yogi, it’s a different story. Not only are there very unique sites in the
city itself, but also there are many opportunities for side excursions in the
countryside just outside of Monywa. David Lambert captures the special quality
to be found in this area in his essay Chindwin,
writing, “beyond the conventional radar,
this is the heart of yogi tourism, where foreign meditators, carrying tourist
cash dollars, come to explore the heartland of their spiritual souls. For some
this is the area ‘where it all began.’ ” Some yogis choose to stay in town
for some time in order to take in all the sites and have adequate time
throughout, while others will include Monywa as one brief stop of many on their
yatra and just take in any outlying sites that are not too far off their route.
Monywa is far from a small town with a population
of nearly 200,000 people. It is located 136 northwest of Mandalay, situated on
the Chindwin River, and so is a major hub for merchants and traders. Prior to
the British arrival, Monywa was little more than a village, although the
central Chindwin Valley area had given birth to the then-popular Sudhamma monastic
movement, in which monks stressed the importance of textual study. Monywa’s own
rise to prominence can be traced to when the town was named the Headquarters of
the Lower Chindwin District by the British in 1886. It was this same year that
the young monk U Nyanadhaja decided to venture into the
Ledi Forest, where he would continue his scholarly work in the quiet that the
vast wilderness provided, and remain for the following 13 years.
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| Maha Ledi Sayadaw Monastery in Monywa |
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