Minbu ( my, မင်းဘူးမြို့) is a city in
Magwe Division
Magway Region ( my, မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of . Pa Del Dam (ပဒ ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. , the city has an urban population of 22,962. The area consists of low
plain
In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...
-land towards the
Ayeyarwady River
The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Origi ...
, and of undulating country inland rising higher and higher westwards towards the
Arakan Mountains. Between the plain and the Arakan Yoma range is a distinct line of hills running north and south, and usually called the Nwa-Madaung hills. The
submontane valleys are largely cultivated, but are deadly except to those born in them. The chief
stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
s besides the Ayeyarwady are the Mon, the Maw, and the Salin, which are largely used for
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 ...
. At Minbu the Ayeyarwady is wide, with many
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
s and
sandbanks. There are considerable
fisheries
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
along the Ayeyarwady and on the Paunglin Lake, which is a
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
fed from the Ayeyarwady.
Oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
has been discovered near the
mud volcano
A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce la ...
es of Minbu, but it seems to lie at too great a depth to be profitably worked.
There is a large area of reserved forest near Minbu. The chief crops raised are
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
,
gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram.
Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...
,
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
,
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s,
pea
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
s,
sesamum
''Sesamum'' is a leguminous crop and genus of about 20 species in the flowering plant family Pedaliaceae. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with edible seeds. The best-known member of the genus is sesame, ''Sesamum indicum'' (syn. ''Ses ...
and
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
. The
betel
The betel (''Piper betle'') is a vine of the family Piperaceae, which includes pepper and kava. The betel plant is native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious perennial, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plan ...
-vine is largely cultivated along the Mon River. The annual
rainfall
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
varies greatly in the area. It is very considerable on and under the Arakari Yomas, and very slight towards the Ayeyarwady. The temperature rises to over in the hot months, and the mean of minimum in December is about .
Points of interest
*
Shinbin Sekkeinte Pagoda
*
Nagapwet Mountain
*
Man Shwe Settaw Pagoda
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chrom ...
Minbu Shwe Settaw
![Minbu Shwe Settaw](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Minbu_Shwe_Settaw.JPG)
A pair of
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
's footprints are located in Settawya, a forest retreat which is west of Minbu on the opposite bank of
Magwe and is from
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
by road. The footprints are well preserved and shrines have been constructed nearby. The place is known as the Pagoda site of the forest. The pilgrimage is combined with photography for young people, as the scenery is picturesque. One can go there also by Minbu- A Road following branches lane at post. The site is on the river Man. The festival is held on the fifth waxing moon of the
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
calendar month, Tabodwe (February and March) annually. Many people, from different parts of the country, gather there and make meritorious deeps singly or collectively.
On the way from Minbu, visitors can pay homage to Sandalwood Monastery at Legging where the Buddha had visited in his lifetime. The history of that Footprint Pagoda dated back to the time of Buddha. Once the Buddha came to that site in the country of Sunapranta. He met the Orahat Sicca Vanda and Naga Nammada on his way and on their humble request, he granted their reverence. The footprints were enshrined ever since. The lower footprint on the slat is under water during the monsoon months as the river Man is flooded. Therefore, the festival is celebrated in the later winter months. Minbu is very hot in summer.
There are series of stalls marketing different things for the pilgrims and villagers nearly. The souvenirs can be bought there also. Minbu new market is very cheap to buy things. Shops are sell with wholesale price. A lot of motorcycles are going around in Minbu. People use motorcycles for their transportation.
From Minbu, there is a road can transport to Rakhine State and you can go the most famous pagoda
Kyaungdawya Pagoda (ကျောင်းတော်ရာ).
In Minbu, there is a lot of crab and dried fish and dried shrimp (ပုဇွန်) you can buy. This is transport from Rakhine.
One of the Asian elephants (Elephus maximus) at Twycross Zoo in the United Kingdom was named after the city of Minbu, as Burma was the country she originated from.
Climate
Notable resident
*
Ohn Maung
Ohn Maung ( my, အုန်းမောင် ; 2 February 1913 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese politician who served as the Deputy Minister of Transport in Myanmar's pre-independence government. He, along with seven other cabinet mini ...
References
*
{{Authority control
Populated places in Magway Region
Township capitals of Myanmar