Myanmar - Yangon - Day 3 Part 1

After the heady grandeur and forlorn glory of the Pagan Plains, I somehow savored the return back to Yangon. The dust tracks and dry surrounds gave way to uncertain driving systems within a city grid that somehow made sense. I sought to explore again.

So early in the morning, I decided to take a stroll around the city, making a loop along the grid and seeing what edifices the British left in this their great commercial centre, which apparently at its peak, rivaled London in civil services and utilities.

Former Rangoon Railway Building

Boxing the grid is the famed circular railway of Rangoon, which formed the boundary of the city core, and right next to the Trader’s Hotel is the former Railway Office, a beautiful red brick building in an otherwise unkept compound.

Restoration of Rangoon Railway Building, future Peninsula Yangon

I was informed by SSM that this building is meant to be turned in to the Peninsula Hotel Yangon, and indeed, a lot of work was being done, but still much more was needed, especially with the grounds. Even in its current state, one can already see the grandeur, and it does not take much to imagine it in its reincarnation as a luxury hotel.

Truth be told, one of my main aims in this is to finish my private project: a compendium of ecclesiastical structures in Southeast Asia. Rangoon, in its glory, somehow eluded me, until curiosity beckoned me in like a maneki neko. I have never seen Burma as a major centre of colonial power until this trip.

Scott Market, a.k.a. Bogyoke Market, Rangoon

Surely, ‘Lord Mountbattern of Burma,’ a title in itself should have hinted at its importance, yet it still did not register, and that was a thought that ran through my head as I walked westwards away from the old Railway Offices towards Scott Market, until a spire jutted out from amidst the relatively flat city scape.

Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Rangoon

Then there before me: the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. I did not know what to expect, but I was sufficiently blown away. The commercial and administrative centres of Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur may hold sway over our (or at least my) idea of British colonial splendor but little is known about Rangoon. This was like finding a clear cut diamond amongst the ecclesiastical sapphires of the Anglican Communion in East Asia.

Buttresses, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Rangoon

Rose Window exterior, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Rangoon

The red brick juxtaposed against the leafy surrounds and well-manicured lawns, the soaring white English-gothic spire balanced against the sturdy buttresses of the French-gothic support structures, the beautiful rose window against the pointed windows and gabled roofs; all within a small compound of quaint provincial life, amidst a family of ducks waddling in the green as the deacon takes a nap on a hammock underneath a tree.

Pastoral scene, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Rangoon

If the exterior was this grand, I started to imagine what the interior was like. Entering from a side door by the ambulatory, I saw a small welcome sign, and passed the small, unassuming door. I was not prepared for what surprises lay within.

Rose Window, Holy Trinity Cathedral

Apse, Holy Trinity Cathedral

Inside, despite the construction and restoration work, was a mass of space, a riotous play of light and dark punctured by the brilliant colours of the stained glass windows by the apse. Bamboo scaffolding unable to hide the majesty of the sanctuary, painting and restoration work notwithstanding, it was still a sight to behold. The beautiful rose window playing colours against the austere white of the walls, the interplay of architecture with stagecraft is almost unparalleled in the region, even when compared to other more high profile British commercial centres in the region.

Side chapel plaques, Holy Trinity Cathedral

Memorial plaques, Holy Trinity Cathedral

Within, small chapels had dedications to the fallen, as in other Anglican churches in the colonies and protectorates. The colours, standards and insignias of different regiments from different times, all form a testament and memorials to all for all.

Scaffolding statement, corner Bo Gyoke & Shwedagon Pagoda Rds

Merchant Rd, Rangoon

With my appetite whetted with this small gem, I decided to plough through the day, deciding to delay my breakfast plans until I have at least seen as much as I could of Colonial Rangoon and her edifices. Amidst the history, sections of the city were being upended and transformed, scaffolding advertise different developers doing different projects constructed by an almost multinational yet distinctively Asian face.

Old against new, Merchant Rd, Rangoon

Yet the grand colonnades and various Greek-order columns stand firm in Rangoon, despite modern Yangon trying to stamp in her authority. Some forlorn and abandoned, with dust, grime and ‘occupation’ a world away from their origins, next to gleaming yet faceless glass and steel erections that so characterize ‘development’ in Asia.

Merchant Rd, Rangoon

Buildings from all ages and times stand side by side in Rangoon and Yangon; the great British structures with their imperial defiance next to playful turn of the century Art Deco blocks, punctured by 60s Internationalism.

Corner, near Sule Pagoda and Merchant Rds, Rangoon

Yet some structures still remind you that this was a British colony close to the heart of the British Raj. Not quite part of the British Raj yet not quite part of British Southeast Asia; Rangoon shares an eclectic mix of Georgian- and Paladian-colonnades that typifies colonial Singapore and Hong Kong yet with the Moorish tendencies that highlight Kuala Lumpur and Calcutta.

High Court Building, Maha Bandoola Park St, Rangoon

The High Court Building, fronting the Maha Bandoola Garden would not look out of place in any station of the British Empire. It looks like it could belong in Melbourne, New Delhi or London itself, with its grand and almost imperious gaze down in the city. The grand clock tower in itself forms a perfect centerpiece in this monumental centre, with smaller yet equally impressive buildings paying homage, from the frosted cake of the Yangon City Hall building to a delightful building with a tower in the corner just next door.

Yangon City Hall, Maha Bandoola Garden

Northeast Corner, Maha Bandoola Garden

The more I walk, the more I became excited, wondering what other surprises lay just around the corner. The good thing about the old colonial heart of Rangoon, against the sheer mass of Yangon, is the ease of navigation within the city grid, with easily navigable city blocks.

Rander House, Pansodan St, Rangoon

With surprises at Rander House and Corinthian columns in front of it, Rangoon felt like the culmination of years of travel in disparate yet connected colonial centres in Southeast Asia, with bits of Georgetown, Victoria, Singapore and Kuching all contained within.

Corinthian columns, Pansodan St

At this rate, my breakfast plans at The Strand would have to wait a bit longer than expected. I am, after all, easily distracted when something catches my eye and my feet urge on my curiosity.