TravelsWithLobo's video: YANGON - INDEPENDENCE MONUMENT - MAHABANDULA PARK - SULE PAGODA

A good start to a day-tour of YANGON would be historic MAHABANDULA PARK for a visit to the INDEPENDENCE MONUMENT, view the surroundings and then head for nearby epic SULE PAGODA...THAT WOULD BE A GOOD START. JOIN US AS WE DISCOVER ...EXCITING NEW TERRITORY. INDEPENDENCE MONUMENT is a symbol of Myanmar’s Sovereignty that was achieved in 1948 when Myanmar became independent of the British Empire...remember India achieved that in 1947. MANDAMANDULA PARK is akin to a Central Park - a place to gather and in the past a place to protest. SULE PAGODA is epic and historic as it is said to go back to the time of Buddha. Independence Day for Myanmar is a national holiday observed annually in Myanmar every 4 January. The date celebrates Myanmar's Declaration of Independence from the British rule on 4 January 1948. In the 19th century, following three Anglo-Burmese Wars, Burma was colonized by Britain. On 1 April 1937, Burma became a separately administered colony of Great Britain and Ba Maw the first Prime Minister and Premier of Burma. Ba Maw was an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule and he opposed the participation of Great Britain, and by extension Burma, in World War II. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly and was arrested for sedition. In 1940, before Japan formally entered the Second World War, Aung San formed the Burma Independence Army in Japan. A major battleground, Burma was devastated during the Second World War. By March 1942, within months after they entered the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon and the British administration had collapsed. A Burmese Executive Administration headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942. Beginning in late 1944, allied troops launched a series of offensives that led to the end of Japanese rule in July 1945. However, the battles were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese, some Burmese, mostly from the ethnic minorities, also served in the British Burma Army.[2] The Burma National Army and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942–44, but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945.[citation needed] Following World War II, Aung San negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders that guaranteed the independence of Burma as a unified state. In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Burma, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals backed by the British[3] assassinated Aung San and several cabinet members.[4] On 4 January 1948 at 4.20 am, the nation became an independent republic, named the Union of Burma in which the time was chosen for its auspiciousness by an astrologer, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister. Unlike most other former British colonies and overseas territories, it did not become a member of the Commonwealth. The Maha Bandula Park or Maha Bandula Garden also spelt Mahabandula or Mahabandoola) is a public park, located in downtown Yangon, Burma. The park is bounded by Maha Bandula Garden Street in the east, Sule Pagoda Road in the west, Konthe Road in the south and Maha Bandula Road in the north, and is surrounded by some of the important buildings in the area such as the Sule Pagoda, the Yangon City Hall and the High Court. The park is named after General Maha Bandula who fought against the British in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826). The park dates to 1867 to 1868, founded as Fytche Square in honour of the then Chief Commissioner of British Burma, Albert Fytche.[2] The site was previously a vacant, swampy site originally known as Tank Square, which was cleared and laid out as a public recreation ground.[3] A white marble statue of Queen Victoria was placed in the center of the park in 1896, gifted by a wealthy Armenian firm in Rangoon.[4][5] After 1935, the park was renamed Bandula Square, reflecting rising nationalist sentiment.[5] After 1948, the Independence Monument, an obelisk in commemoration of Burmese independence from the British in 1948, was installed at the center of the park, replacing the statue of Queen Victoria.The statue of Queen Victoria was brought back to England after Myanmar Independence. The architect of this Independence Monument Sithu U Tin who is the same architect for City Hall.[6] The park was remodelled in 2012. The Sule Pagoda is a Burmese stupa located in the heart of downtown Yangon, occupying the centre of the city and an important space in contemporary Burmese politics, ideology and geography. According to legend, it was built before the Shwedagon Pagoda during the time of the Buddha, making it more than 2,600 years old.