26 January
THEfirst Yangon Cen-tral Railway Station in downtown was not the one you see standing nowadays. It was situated south of the present one near Pansodan Street.
According to records, it was only in 1911 that the second Yangon Central Railway station was moved to its current position.
During the Second World War, it was bombed frequently and these bombings destroyed the entire western part of the station according to an article written in the Myanma Railways centennial magazine.
Drawing a new design for a new railway station
At that time, headquarters of the railways was in Simla, India. Headquarters asked engineer U Hla Thwin in Yangon to submit a new design drawing of the new railway station and the design was approved on 7 May 1946.
Expert on Myanmar architecture Sithu U Tin was assigned to include Myanmar traditional architectural design.
Sayagyi Sithu U Tin also made an allout effort in producing Myanmar’s traditional architectural styles and designs. English engineers were said to have commended the Myanmar traditional five tier roof style top ping the four stairwells.
The construction of the new railway station began a year before the country’s independence in 1947, completed in 1954 and opened on 5 June.
Majestic and striking
The railway station consisted of three main buildings and was majestic and striking. As it was now only 65 years old, it will remain strong and sturdy for many more years to come.
The majestic beauty of Yangon central railway station with its Myanmar architectural designs was enhanced further by the bronze statues of a youthful boy and girl celebrating tradi-tional Myanmar Thingyan in the present modern day outfits. The statues were erected in a small park in front of the station.
The two statues were of a boy pouring water out of a bowl onto a girl and the poses were alive and realistic.
Display of an outstanding bronze casting
Even though it was a bronze casting, the dresses of the boy and girl were realistic as though real wet dresses were being worn. It shows the high standard and quality of the bronze casting.
A commemorative plaque attached to the platform underneath the statue said the bronze casting was by Sayagyi U Han Tin. Even though Sayagyi had already passed away, his handiwork or art work remain alive and prominently featured.
Work on the bronze statues were started on 1 September 1989 and completed in 28 February 1990. The statues were unveiled on 4 March 1990 said the plaque. The plaque further stated that a total of 1,555.56 viss of bronze was used to produce the statues.
The railway station depicts Myanmar’s culture and arts while the bronze Thingyan couple de-picts another traditional cultural heritage of Myanmar. It is our duty and responsibility to main-tain this traditional culture, arts and heritages.
By Tin Win Lay (Kyimyindine)
PHOTO: KO GYI TIN
