Sagaing Division

Sagaing Division is situated in the north-western part of Myanmar. 1t shares border with India in the north, Kachin State, Shan State and Mandalay Division in the east, Mandalay and Magway Divisions in the south and Chin State and India in the west

The division covers the area of 93527 sq-km, and has a population of approx 5.3 million.

Sagaing is the largest division in the country, bordering India's Nagaland and Manipur provinces to the west. It is a long north to south division from the highland Nagaland to the central plain of Myanmar. The northern part is mountain ranges of which the one along India border is higher. The southern part is relatively low land but not flat plain. South and south-eastern regions are drier.

Majority of the population are Bamars and others include Kachin, Chin, Indian, Naga.

Agriculture is the chief occupation. The leading crop is rice, which occupies most of the arable ground. Other crops include wheat, sesame, peanut, pulses, cotton, and tobacco. Sagaing is Myanmar’s leading producer of wheat, contributing more than 80% of the country's total production. Forestry is important in the wetter upper regions along the Chindwin River, with teak and other hardwoods extracted.  Important minerals include gold, coal, salt and small amounts of petroleum. Industry includes textiles, copper refining, gold smelting, and a diesel engine plant. The Division has many rice mills, edible oil mills, saw mills, cotton mills, and mechanized weaving factories. Local industry includes earthen pots, silverware, bronze-wares, iron-wares and lacquer-ware. Cattle and buffalo raising are seen in some places. Most of the trading with India is done at Tamu border town, opposite Moe Ray of India. Agricultural products such as cooking oil, ground nut, rice are exported to India, while agricultural and transport equipment and ready mixed food enter Myanmar.

Major Tourist destinations are Sagaing, Mingun, Monywa & Shwebo.

Kawlin and Wuntho are known for the gold mines as is Uru Chaung and Khamti are for their jade and gold mines. Indaw and Pantha have natural gas-fields and Kalaywa has coal mines. The Chindwin is the main river of the division, starting from the northern valley surrounded by highlands of Sagaing division and Kachin state. It flows north to south passing the southern dry land and finally enters the Ayeyarwaddy.

Sagaing lies 21 km south west of Mandalay, beside the Ayeyarwaddy River and is the capital of Sagaing Division. Sagaing was the ancient capital of an independent Shan kingdom in 1315, after the fall of Bagan had created a power vacuum in central Burma. In 1364, the founder’s grandson moved the capital to nearby Ava.

The Sagaing Hills are dotted with pagodas and there are over 500 monasteries, a retreat for some 6000 monks and nuns. About 10 km from Sagaing is the Kaung-hmu-daw, an enormous dome-shaped pagoda, built by King Thalun in 1636 on the model of the Maha-ceti Pagoda of Sri Lanka. Ywataung village is well known for its silver-smiths.

Kaung Hmu Daw Pagoda - Sagaing

Mingun is located 11 km up the Ayeyarwady River from Mandalay. The main attraction is the ruined Mingun Paya, a Buddhist temple with the remains of a massive stupa begun by King Bodawpaya in 1790. The temple was not completed, due to an astronomer claiming that, once the temple was finished, the King would die.

Had the stupa had been completed, it would have been the largest in the world at 150 meters. Despite its ruined state, the remains are impressive. King Bodawpaya has a gigantic bell cast to go with his huge stupa. The Mingun Bell weighs 80 tons, and is today the largest uncracked bell in the world.

Myatheindam Pagoda - Mingun

Shwebo is located 113 km north-west of Mandalay on the eastern bank of the Chindwin River.

The area around Shwebo was the site of the ancient Pyu city-state of Hanlin.

Shwebo was royal capital of Burma under King Alaungpaya (who was a Shwebo native) from 1760-1764. He used the city as a base from which to conquer Ava and Lower Burma, establishing the Third Burmese Empire. His successor, King Hsinbyushin, moved the capital to Amarapura in the 1780s, and the city has been in decline ever since.

As with Monywa, the city is a trade centre for agricultural produce, especially beans, rice and sesame from the surrounding plains between the Mu and the Ayeyarwady River.

The major tourist attraction in Shwebo (although very few tourists make it there as facilities are very limited) are its numerous Buddhist temples, and the ruins of Alaungpaya's palace. The city is still surrounded by its ancient moat.

Shwebo Pagodas

Shwebo Pagodas

Monywa is located 136 km north-west of Mandalay on the eastern bank of the Chindwin River.

Monywa is a major trade centre for agricultural produce from the surrounding Chindwin Valley, especially beans, orange pulses and jiggery (palm sugar). In addition, the local industry includes mills for the production of cotton, flour, noodles, and edible oils. Monywa's rough cotton blankets are famous throughout Myanmar. Other regional crafts include bamboo and reed products, bullock carts and agricultural implements.

The major tourist attraction in Monywa (although very few tourists make it there, and facilities are very limited) is Moenhyin Thanbooday Paya, a Buddhist temple with a huge stupa resembling Indonesia's Borobudur. It dates from 1303, although it was reconstructed in 1939. It is said to contain over 500,000 images of Buddha.

Also at Boditahtaung there is a 1000 banyan or Bo tree together with the thousand Buddha images sitting at the foot of each tree in front of the Aung Setkaya Pagoda, standing 130 metre high on the Po Khaung hills.

Thanboddhay Pagoda Monywa

Boditahtaung - 1000 banyan trees & pagoda -Monywa

Naga Land
Naga Land is the land at Sagaing Division, North-West of Myanmar near India Border, where Naga Hill Tribes are living. Khamti, LayShe, Lahe, NanYun are the Naga's Towns.

The Patkai Range in Northern Myanmar is home to the countries estimated 100,000 Nagas.

There are round about 64 clans in Naga Tribes and for centuries they have been fighting among themselves and other people in their region. Traditionally the Nagas are fierce warriors and until recently headhunters. The Nagas have defended their land against incursions by invaders. The practice of head hunting is believed to have died out in the past twenty years. Unlike the Was, who took human skulls to safeguard their society and crops. The Nagas killed for personal glory and for the glory of their villages.

Naga woman