Inwa

Inwa or Ava (Burmese: အင်းဝမြို့; MLCTS: ang:wa.mrui., IPA: [ʔɪ́ɴwa̰ mjo̰] or [ʔəwa̰ mjo̰]; also spelled Innwa), located in Mandalay Region, Burma (Myanmar), is an ancient imperial capital of successive Burmese kingdoms from the 14th to 19th centuries. Throughout history, it was sacked and rebuilt numerous times. The capital city was finally abandoned after it was completely destroyed by a series of major earthquakes in March 1839. Though only a few traces of its former grandeur remain today, the former capital is a popular day-trip tourist destination from Mandalay.

Etymology

The name Inwa (အင်းဝ) literally means "mouth of the Lake", reflecting its geographical location at the mouth of lakes in the Kyaukse District. Another theory states that it is derived from Innawa (အင်းနဝ), meaning "nine lakes" in the area. The city's classical name in Pali is Ratanapura (ရတနပုရ; "City of Gems").

The modern standard Burmese pronunciation is Inwa (IPA: [ʔɪ́ɴwa̰]), following the modern orthography. But the local Upper Burmese pronunciation is Awa ([ʔəwa̰]). Indeed, the spelling of the city in the royal records, all written prior to the modern Burmese spelling standardization drives, is အဝ (Awa), the phonetic spelling of the Upper Burmese usage. The most common Western transcription Ava comes from Awa via Portuguese.

Inwa (disambiguation)

Inwa (also spelled Innwa; formerly Ava) is a former national capital of Burma (Myanmar).

Inwa may also mean:

Nordic walking

Nordic walking is a total body version of walking that can be enjoyed both by non-athletes as a health-promoting physical activity, and by athletes as a sport. The activity is performed with specially designed walking poles similar to ski poles.

History

Nordic walking (original Finnish "Sauvakävely") is fitness walking with specially designed poles. While trekkers, backpackers and skiers had been using the basic concept for decades, Nordic Walking was first formally defined with the publication of "Hiihdon lajiosa" (translation: "A part of cross-country skiing training methodic") by Mauri Repo in 1979.( Works related to Hiihdon lajiosa at Wikisource.) Nordic Walking's concept was developed on the basis of off-season ski-training activity while using one-piece ski poles.

For decades hikers and backpackers used their one-piece ski poles long before trekking and Nordic walking poles came onto the scene. Ski racers deprived of snow have always used and still do use their one-piece ski poles for ski walking and hill bounding. The first poles specially designed and marketed to fitness walkers were produced by Exerstrider of the USA in 1988. Nordic Walker poles were produced and marketed by Exel in 1997. Exel coined and popularized the term 'Nordic Walking' in 1999.