Kandawgyi Lake (Burmese: ကန်တော်ကြီး pronounced [kàɰ̃dɔ̀dʑí]; literally "great royal lake"), is one of two major lakes in Yangon, Myanmar. Located east of the Shwedagon Pagoda,[1] the lake is artificial; water from Inya Lake is channelled through a series of pipes to Kandawgyi Lake.[2] It was created to provide a clean water supply to the city during the British colonial administration.[3][4] It is approximately 3 miles (5 km) in circumference, and has a depth of 20 to 45 inches (50 to 115 cm).[5]

Kandawgyi Lake
ကန်တော်ကြီး
Map of Myanmar showing location within Yangon area
Map of Myanmar showing location within Yangon area
Kandawgyi Lake
ကန်တော်ကြီး
LocationYangon
Coordinates16°47′43.75″N 96°9′59.62″E / 16.7954861°N 96.1665611°E / 16.7954861; 96.1665611
Typereservoir
Basin countriesMyanmar (Burma)
Surface area150 acres (61 ha)
Average depth45 inches (115 cm)
SettlementsYangon

The 150-acre (61 ha) lake is surrounded by the 110-acre (45 ha) Kandawgyi Nature Park,[6] and the 69.25-acre (28-hectare) Yangon Zoological Gardens, which consists of a zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park.[7] In 2012, the park hosted Ice Wonderland.[8]

The Karaweik is a famous icon along Kandawgyi Lake's shores.

The lake itself is bounded by Natmauk Street to its north and east, Bahan Street to its west, and Kanyeiktha Street to its south. The lake used to be the site of the Rangoon Rowing Club turned Kandawgyi Palace Hotel, which was gutted by a fire in 2017.[9] Along the eastern shorelines of the lake is the famous Karaweik, a concrete replica of a Burmese royal barge built in 1972.[2] It houses a buffet restaurant today.

Kandawgyi Lake in 1895

On 15 April 2010, three bombs exploded in a road near to the lake in the afternoon during the Burmese New Year festival; 10 people were killed and 178 injured.[10]

Kandawgyi Lake in 2011
View over Kandawgyi Lake with Karaweik in the distance

References

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  1. ^ "The Shwedagon Pagoda: sacred space and power politics", State and Society in Modern Rangoon, Routledge, pp. 34–47, 2014-06-17, retrieved 2024-03-02
  2. ^ a b "Kandawgyi Nature Park". Archived from the original on 2006-12-12. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
  3. ^ Codrington, Stephen (2005). Planet Geography. Solid Star Press. ISBN 0-9579819-3-7.
  4. ^ Transactions of the Seventh International Congress of Hygiene and Demography. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1892.
  5. ^ Balfour, Edward (1871). Encyclopædia of India and of eastern and southern Asia. Scottish & Adelphi presses. p. 634.
  6. ^ "Kandawgyi Garden". Retrieved 2006-12-21.
  7. ^ "History of Zoological Gardens (Yangon)". Archived from the original on 2008-08-02. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  8. ^ "Myanmar, Chinese companies to launch ice wonderland in Yangon---ASEAN---China Center". www.asean-china-center.org. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  9. ^ "The New York Daily News: Fire rips through luxury Myanmar hotel, 1 body recovered". Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  10. ^ "Dozens dead and 60 wounded in triple explosion in Rangoon". The Times. April 16, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-16.[dead link]