Yayway Cemetery | |
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Details | |
Location | |
Country | Myanmar |
Coordinates | 16°55′56″N 96°09′57″E / 16.93233°N 96.16585°E |
Type | Public |
Find a Grave | Yayway Cemetery |
Yayway Cemetery (Burmese: ရေဝေးသုသာန်, also spelt Yeway Cemetery) is a cemetery located in North Okkalapa Township, Yangon, Myanmar.[1] The cemetery is the final resting place of many prominent Burmese. The cemetery is maintained by the Yangon City Development Committee's environmental maintenance department.[2] Yayway Cemetery also consists of various ethnic and religious cemeteries, including those of the Burmese Indians, Sino-Burmese (Hakka, Cantonese, Hokkien, and Yunnanese), Karen, Japanese, Baháʼís, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Parsis, and Jews.[2]
In the mid-1990s, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the ruling junta, forcibly closed down and relocated historic cemeteries lying near the city center of Yangon.[3] One of the biggest was Kyandaw Cemetery (in Kamayut Township), which was relocated to suburbs in 1996 to 1997, and redeveloped as the Yangon Drugs Elimination Museum.[3] Descendants of the interred were given one month's notice to move the remains for reburial.[4] Similarly, that year, the Nine Mile Cemetery (ကိုးမိုင်သင်္ချိုင်း), an ethnic Chinese cemetery was demolished and remains were relocated to Yayway Cemetery.[5] The interred remains from these cemetery relocation projects were reburied at Yayway Cemetery, located on the outskirts of the city.[6]
Today, Yayway Cemetery is the busiest in the Yangon area, handling the highest volume of cremations (70 to 100 per day).[7]