Hanlin Pyu Ancient Ciry

Stepping back in time in Hanlin By Myanmar Times

Standing above the rolling landscape at Site 22 of the World Heritage site of Hanlin (also known as Halin), you realise that civilizations like the Pyu city-states have come and gone – but the rich volcanic soil, hot springs and salt kept people coming back.

Myanmar’s Indiana Jones, government archeologist Aung Zaw Min in Hanlin. Photo: Stuart Alan BeckerMyanmar’s Indiana Jones, government archeologist Aung Zaw Min in Hanlin. Photo: Stuart Alan Becker

Believed by archeologists to have been founded somewhere around the first century CE, Hanlin was the largest and most important Pyu city until around the eighth century, when it was overtaken in importance by the much larger city Sri Ksetra, located near modern Pyay. Some scholars say Pyu culture then gradually morphed into Bagan culture, broadly shaping the society of today.

Myanmar applied to UNESCO in 1996 to have Hanlin, along with Beikthano and Sri Kestra, included on the World Heritage list, and the sites were added just last month at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in Doha, Qatar. Since then, thanks to funding from Italy, one of the old wagon tracks that leads to Hanlin – about 10 miles (16 kilometres) south of Shwebo on the road to Sagaing – is now being rebuilt and expected to be completed next year.

Currently, the best way to go is by taking a right turn about 10 miles out of Shwebo on the road to Mogok. Either way the journey is about 35km (22 miles), more than an hour’s slow and bumpy drive. In our car, we were held up by a flock of ducks being herded across the road by a local duck kingpin, then unexpected road construction, including sections of jagged, tire-tearing rocks piled on the road.

When we finally reached beautiful downtown Hanlin, we sat down in the town’s only cafe and locals clustered around us for conversation over tea and cake.

A man of local importance, school headmaster Yan Aung Moe, 46, of the adjacent village Sadaunggyi, spoke of his affection for the place where he grew up and lives with his family today.

“One day is not enough to go from site to site,” he said.

The Myanmar Archaeological Department had arrived in 2008 and 2009 to excavate the site and make improvements, he said, although it’s been known as an archeological site since the colonial era. The understanding of the ancient inhabitants unearthed in the process made him even prouder to live there.

“By the evidence like the walls and gold pieces I have a feeling that they had a high living standard. They had a dam, they used irrigation, and in terms of agriculture they were quite advanced,” he said.

The population of Hanlin is about 6400 people, or about 1300 households. Yan Aung Moe said nearly all the residents were involved in farming of rice, different varieties of beans and sesame seeds. It’s also famous for salt. He explained the method of salt extraction thus:

“We build a dyke with clay. Then, salt-rich earth is placed into the clay dyke container and under the clay dyke is bamboo which allows the salty water to drip out.” The salty water is then dried and the salt is collected. Ancient salt production is thought to have taken place at a lake, also the south, called Hanlin Inn, employing solar evaporation to get salt from the soil.

Soon, tourism will be added to the list of local industries. During the last few months, the road project has put local people to work. Following a recent visit by Myanmar’s Minister for Hotels and Tourism, Yan Aung Moe said rumours were floating about the construction of a hotel.

“We are happy for the changes to come,” he said.

Overhearing our conversation in the cafe was Aung Zaw Min, an assistant engineering officer for the Department of Archaeology. He had been posted to Hanlin from Nay Pyi Taw six months earlier and could barely contain his zeal to show us the sites of the ancient Pyu.

The walled city, surrounded by 12 gates and what are now traces of a moat, covers an area of 541.4 hectares in a rectangular shape sloping to the south. It sits on a rolling volcanic plain 16km (10 miles) from the Ayeyarwady River and 27km (17 miles) from the Mu River to the west.

The hot springs lie south of the ancient city. In a few of the many springs, the water is hot enough to boil an egg.

We followed Aung Zaw Min and Yan Aung Moe on their motorcycles to the first archaeological site, a concrete building that houses excavated skeletons of an ancient graveyard, with heads facing north and buried with clay pottery, jewelry and bronze rattles, presumably for the afterlife. Carbon dating indicates the earliest graves may date back 5000 years.

The next stop on the tour was a walk around the “Southern Gateway” to ancient Pyu, which dates to about 200 AD.

Next were the ruins of a 12th century AD pagoda of the late Bagan period, which had been landscaped recently with cactus plants put in by the Department of Archaeology.

Finally, we arrived at the very interesting HL-22 site, a square monumental excavation, with three sets of standing stone slabs dating from the second century AD suggesting a connection to the megalithic culture found at Laikor in the Indian states of Assam and Manipur.

Some of the tops of the stones had been broken off by local people thinking they were jade. Archeologists had to cement them back on.

A short distance from HL-22 are the remains of an ancient dam that provides ample evidence that the Pyu inhabitants were capable of constructing intricate and impressive hydrology systems for irrigation and defense.

On the way back to the modern village of Hanlin, we visited the archaeological museum (K5000 for foreigners and free for locals). With exhibits of silver coins and gold necklaces, as well as bricks, written texts and other artifacts, the museum is a necessary and interesting stop. A cemetery stone shows evidence of the Pyu alphabet, which relates to Indian Sanskrit as well as to today’s modern Bamar language.

Hanlin locals are said to be less forthcoming than they once were about reporting silver coins and artifacts they discover owing to an incident some time ago – possibly many years ago – when an official arrived in response to honest local people reporting a discovery of valuable silver coins and then, according to the story, the official promptly sold the ancient artifacts and pocketed all the money for himself. The event left a sour taste that remains today. Nevertheless, the local people are proud of their village and the relationship they have with the ancient Pyu people.

After the museum, we visited the hot springs, stuck our fingers in water of various temperatures, and saw women and children bathing in the concreted areas around the springs. The water doesn’t smell and is reputed to have curative properties. Many of the local residents, including Aung Zaw Min, bathe at the hot springs each morning.

On good advice from our host Yan Aung Moe, we exited Hanlin by the road leading to the north, toward the Shwebo-Mogok Road, passing a number of ox carts filled with hay and bamboo, attesting to a beautiful kind of country life that has existed in this area for thousands of years.

If you’re traveling north of Mandalay in the Shwebo region, a visit to the Hanlin archaeological sites will offer a genuine glimpse into what life must have been like in the Pyu city-states that rose, flourished and withered away between 2000 and 1300 years ago – and the local people rocking along the bumpy roads on their oxcarts full of hay and bamboo will remind you that today’s lifestyle probably isn’t that different to what it was when the walled city of Hanlin flourished.