Not the beauty queen of a beauty contest by the fairer gender. It is the floral museum in an open field at a hill station town called Pyin Oo Lwin (formerly May Myo) in Mandalay Division that the title of this vignette refers to.

Well known at home and abroad as Botanical Gardens, this man-made arborea of a large extent and exquisite verdant beauty lies to the extreme north of Pyin Oo Lwin town, about two miles'' distance from Purcell Tower (clock Tower) downtown, occupying a wide area of 240 acres. The Botanical garden receives its water source from the nearby Lake known now as Kandaw Gyi (Great Royal Lake) which is also a man-made lake.

History of both the garden and the lake dates back to the first two decades of the last century, the 20th. During the First World War (1914-1919) the digging of the Lake was begun. When the natural springs in the upper reaches of the Botanical Garden were found sprouting incessantly, the town authorities decided to dam the crystal clear spring water for some useful purpose.

The Botanical Garden was first founded in the year 1915-16 by one British botanist named Mr. Roger who began collecting local plants and trees and cultivating them on 30 acres of land at the present site. It was only in 1919 that the Government gave official sanction to it. The original area of the Botanical Garden was 170 acres of land and 70 acres of water totalling 240 acres. With a constant supply of sufficient spring water from the great lake nearby, the plan of the Garden was laid out on the design of Kew Gardens in England. In 1920 the Forest Department issued a notification No. 207 which declared the Botanical Garden as a forest reserve and placed it under the custody of the Department. In several plots were planted 4840 trees mostly pine varieties, 575 different floral species and many exotic fruit, flower and shade trees from abroad that were acclimatized to grow in the Garden. Besides, vast meadows and several seasonal flower beds were arranged and hundreds of wild orchids from different parts of the country were collected and displayed in the Orchid Green House in the garden. The garden thus became one of the world class botanical gardens.

Pyin Oo Lwin Photo Slide Show