Little-known ancient monasteries and palaces in Yangon are to be added to a government list of protected sites as cultural historians seek to generate more interest in heritage.
Paintings, stupas and sculptures that are at least 100 years old will also be added to the register, the Myanmar Times reported.
Researchers have completed surveys in Htantabin and Taikkyi Townships, in some cases coming up against problematic landowners.
“Challenges can arise when the buildings are on private property,” U Kyaw Nyunt, director of the Yangon Region Department of Archaeology, National Museumand Library, told the Times.
“Some landlords don’t like us entering their compound and digging, especially around Twante township, where houses have been built on top of an old pagoda that has long been buried. A certain amount of negotiation is required.”
He said the survey was commissioned to draw attention to the city’s history – especially for the benefit of overseas visitors – and protect “race and religion”.
The majority of structures currently listed as protected – 16 out of 26 – are Buddhist pagodas, but U Kyaw Nyunt said the updated register would “cover all cultures”.
Pressure from religious groups led to the cancellation of high-rise projects near to the Shwedagon pagoda in central Yangon earlier this year.
Photo / Philip Adolphe Klier / Wikicommons: View of Rangoon in the 1890s, with present-day Mahabandoola Gardens in the foreground, looking towards Sule Pagoda.
