Lake Meiktila ( my, မိတ္ထီလာကန် ) is a lake located near

Meiktila Meiktila (; ) is a city in central Burma on the banks of Meiktila Lake in the Mandalay Region at the junctions of the Bagan-Taunggyi, Yangon-Mandalay and Meiktila-Myingyan highways. Because of its strategic position, Meiktila is home to Myanmar Ai ...

, Myanmar. It is long, averages half a mile across, and covers an area of . Mone-Dai dam supplies water to the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

. It is divided into two parts, north lake and south lake. It is divided by a bridge across the lake. The lake is an artificial

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

and

water reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

History

In accordance with the old saying "Pond in Taungthamun and Lake in Meiktila", Taungthaman is the largest pond and Meiktila is the largest lake in Myanmar. Then King Kutha redammed. After that 17 other Myanmar kings in different dynasties mended it and it is later known as "Mingalar Lake ". It is also said that the powerful and glorious King Thiridamarthawka was one of them. Then King

Anawrahta Anawrahta Minsaw ( my, အနော်ရထာ မင်းစော, ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077) was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone ...

Pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

renovated it in 414 Burmese year by the method of modern irrigation. He also established, in the upper and lower parts of Meiktila Lake, nine Theins (Buddhist ordination hall), nine high hill, nine pools and nine ponds. Later on, his grandson, King

Alaungsithu Alaungsithu or Sithu I ( my, အလောင်းစည်သူ ; also Cansu I; 1090–1167) was king of Pagan Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1112/13 to 1167. Sithu's reign was a prosperous one in which Pagan was an integral part of in-land a ...

succeeded damming the Meiktila Lake. There are also 24 historical pagodas in and near by the town. Meiktila Lake has been the only water resource for the residents of Meiktila and for the peasants for about 1000 years. During the reign of King

Swa Saw Ke Mingyi Swa Saw Ke ( my, မင်းကြီး စွာစော်ကဲ, ; also spelled စွာစောကဲ, Minkyiswasawke or Swasawke; 1330–1400) was king of Ava from 1367 to 1400. He reestablished central authority in Upper Mya ...

of Ava, Nga Nyo from Winzinn village was famous for his wisdom. Later, he became the king's counselor named Winzinn Minnyarzar and later honoured by the king as his counselor concerning his wise knowledge on the statue found on the bank of lake.

Pagoda festival

20160803 - Meiktila, Myanmar - Phaung Daw U Pagoda - 7321

On the eastern part of Meiktila Lake, King Alaungsithu built the Phaung Daw U Pagoda at the place where his raft halted during his journey. The pagoda festival is annually held in Myanmar month of

Tawthalin Tawthalin ( my, တော်သလင်း) is the sixth month of the traditional Burmese calendar. Festivals and events * Boat Regatta Festival () Tawthalin symbols *Flower: ''Chukrasia velutina'' References See also *Burmese calendar *Fest ...

. In Meiktila, there are many other famous pagodas such as Shwemyintin Padoda, built by King Thiridamarthawka in the east of the Lake, Nagayon Pagoda by King

Narapatisithu Narapati Sithu ( my, နရပတိ စည်သူ, ; also Narapatisithu, Sithu II or Cansu II; 1138–1211) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1174 to 1211. He is considered the last important king of Pagan. His peaceful and p ...

and Auntagu Pagoda in the center of the lake.

References

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