Katha, Burma

for the village in Nepal see Kathar, Nepal

Katha ကသာ Kathar
Katha Location of Katha, Burma
Coordinates: 24°10′56″N 96°19′50″E
Country	Burma
Division	Sagaing Division
District	Katha
Township	Katha
Elevation	407 ft (124 m)
Time zone	MST (UTC+6.30)

Katha (Burmese: ကသာ; MLCTS: ka. sa, pronounced and sometimes spelled, Kathar) is a town in Sagaing Division, Myanmar, on the west side of the Ayeyarwady river on a bluff with an average elevation of 124 m. Most of the town is more than 10 meters above the river. Katha is known as the real setting of George Orwell's Burmese Days.

Location

Katha is 12 hours by rail north of Mandalay through the railroad junction town of Naba which is 23 km or 14 miles to the west of Katha. A small branch of railway runs east from Naba to Katha. Katha can also be reached by ferries that run on the Ayeyarwady river between the upstream town of Bhamo down to Mandalay. There is also direct bus service from Mandalay to Katha, but it is a bumpy ride.

Economy

Katha is the administrative seat of Katha District which comprises seven small townships. Katha is populated with government offices and many of the early town settlers were from every part of Burma and usually had background history of civil service under at least one of ministerial departments. The main economy of the town is fisheries and farming of kidney beans. Production of rice in the Katha Township is less than its consumption and Katha has to depend on imports from the nearby townships such as Indaw or Kawlin. Katha is a legendarily bureaucratic stronghold, and its prosperity is crippled by it.^{[citation needed]}

Setting of George Orwell's Burmese Days

Katha is known in literature as the real place underlying the fictional Kyauktada, setting of George Orwell's first novel Burmese Days (1934). Orwell himself served at Katha in 1926-27 in the Indian Imperial Police. The British Club (including active tennis court), police station, and town jail are locations referenced in the novel that can still be visited today. More accounts on this section is readable in Emma Larkin's "Finding George Orwell in Burma". Katha links with prominent Burmese writers such as Shwe U Daung, Thaw Tar Swe, Theik-Pan Muu Tin, and AFPFL leader Kyaw Nyein from Stable faction .

Street in Katha along the Ayeyarwady River

British Club in Katha (only ground floor is original in Orwell's time)

Irrawaddy River

Children fishing on the outskirts of the town Katha

External links

• "Katha, Burma", Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.
• "Katha Map — Satellite Images of Katha", Maplandia

See also

• George Orwell