Maha Bandula Park

Maha Bandula Park
မဟာဗန္ဓုလ ပန်းခြံ
The Independence Monument in Maha Bandula Park
Type	Urban park
Location	Yangon
Coordinates
Area	7.5 acres (3.0 ha)
Created	1867-1868
Operated by	Yangon City Development Committee
Status	Open all year

The Maha Bandula Park or Maha Bandula Garden (Burmese: မဟာဗန္ဓုလ ပန်းခြံ, pronounced: [məhà bàɴdṵla̰ páɴdʑàɴ], also spelt Mahabandula or Mahabandoola) is a public park, located in downtown Yangon, Burma. The park is bounded by Maha Bandula Garden Street in the east, Sule Pagoda Road in the west, Konthe Road in the south and Maha Bandula Road in the north, and is surrounded by some of the important buildings in the area such as the Sule Pagoda, the Yangon City Hall and the High Court. The park is named after General Maha Bandula who fought against the British in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826).

History

File:Fytche Square, Rangoon.jpg

A view of Fytche Square circa 1895, facing toward Sule Pagoda.

The park dates to 1867 to 1868, founded as Fytche Square in honour of the then Chief Commissioner of British Burma, Albert Fytche. The site was previously a vacant, swampy site originally known as Tank Square, which was cleared and laid out as a public recreation ground. A statue of Queen Victoria was placed in the center of the park in 1896, gifted by a wealthy Armenian firm in Rangoon. After 1935, the park was renamed Bandula Square, reflecting rising nationalist sentiment.

After 1948, the Independence Monument, an obelisk in commemoration of Burmese independence from the British in 1948, was installed at the center of the park, replacing the statue of Queen Victoria. The park was remodelled in 2012.