More than 70,000 local and foreign visitors participated in the Thingyan festival at Taungthaman Lake in Mandalay Region, where U Bein bridge is located, according to U Soe Win, secretary of the Taungthaman Lake and U Bein Bridge Conservation Committee.
The Taungthaman Thingyan festival featured water play pavilions, entertainment pavilions and Satuditha (public feast for all comers) programmes and 50 boats were arranged for the visitors to enjoy the beauty of the dusk on the lake.
“This area has been crowded since the day before Pre-Thingyan Day. In total, more than 70,000 local and foreign travellers visited the site and participated in the Taungthaman Thingyan. Most of the local visitors came from Yangon, Bago, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay,” he said.
The famous destination of the Taungthaman Lake and U Bein Bridge, which are currently busy with local visitors, usually attract the majority of foreign tourists from Thailand, Vietnam and the Republic of Korea.
U Bein Bridge spans the Taungthaman Lake and was built in 1211 M.E, during the reign of King Bagan, by clerk U Bein, a subordinate of Amarapura Mayor Bai Sab, using the teak pillars removed from the old capital of Ava. The length of the bridge is 3987 feet and it originally had 1086 teak pillars with 482 sections, but after facing several natural disasters, it now only has 447 sections left. – ASH/ZN
