On 28th February after the meeting of “House of Nationalities (Amyotha Hluttaw in Burmese)”, one out of two houses of the “Assembly of the Union of Myanmar” (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw in Burmese), Thura U Aung Ko, the minister of the Ministry of Religious Affairs revealed to media about the plan that five designated platforms will be established for the visitors to enjoy sunset on their Bagan tours.
As a joint project between the Mandalay Regional Government and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the banks along five bodies of water will be mounted and turned into hills for avid sunset watchers, who usually clamor for a good spot on one of Bagan’s many pagodas come sundown.
Work has already begun on the first platform — a hill near Ko Mauk Lake, which will be raised from its current height of nearly-18 feet to 20 feet, and which authorities estimate will be ready for visitors by mid-March. Minister U Aung Ko of the Ministry of Religious Affairs also confirmed that the other four areas had already been chosen.
U Aung Ko explained, “Five hills will be able to accommodate between 200 and 300 people. Once those [viewing platforms] have been established, we’ll gradually stop allowing people to climb the pagodas at sunset until all the pagodas are off-limits.”
The Minister estimates that the designated five platforms will finish construction within the next six months. If it turns out that five platforms aren’t enough, more areas will be created as necessary.