The main tourist destination in Myanmar is Bagan, capital of the first Myanmar Empire; one of the richest archaeological sites in South-east Asia. Situated on the eastern bank of the Ayeyawaddy River.

The Magic of Bagan has inspired visitors to Myanmar for nearly 1000 years. Bagan covers an area of 42sq.km containing over 2000 well-preserved pagodas and temples of the 11th-13th century.

The town of Bagan (formerly spelled as "Pagan"), central Myanmar (Burma), situated on the left bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River and approximately 90 miles (145 km) southwest of Mandalay. The site of an old capital city of Myanmar, Pagan is a pilgrimage centre and contains ancient Buddhist shrines that have been restored and redecorated and are in current use. Ruins of other shrines and pagodas cover a wide area. An earthquake on July 8, 1975, severely damaged more than half of the important structures and irreparably destroyed many of them. The whole of the Buphaya Pagoda, for nine centuries a landmark for river-boatmen, tumbled into the Ayeyarwaddy and was carried off by the waters. The village also has a school for lacquerware, for which the region is noted.

Pagan's importance lies in its heritage rather than its present. It was first built probably in AD 849 and, from the 11th century to the end of the 13th, was the capital of a region roughly the size of modern Myanmar. In 1287 it was overrun by the Mongols during their wide-ranging conquests, and it never recovered its position, though a little desultory building continued on Buddhist shrines.

There are many ancient pagodas and temples in Bagan.

Ananda Temple

The central square has sides of 175 feet (53m) and rises in terraces to the crown 168 feet high. In the center of the cube are 4 famous standing Buddha images of 31 feet (9.5m) height. The base and terraces are decorated with a great number of glazed tiles showing scenes from the earlier lives of Buddha. In the western sanctum there are life size statues of the temple's founder and his primate while in the west porch there are two footprints of Buddha on pedestals.

While the smaller temples have only a single seated image in the cella, the Ananda enshrines four large standing images of the Buddha in arched recesses on each side of a square central block. Instead of the single vestibule of the smaller temple, there are vestibules on all four sides, making the Ananda a Greek cross in plan.

Two parallel ambulatory corridors run around the central block, with three tiers of arched niches in their walls, as well as smaller niches in the upper walls,' to enshrine images of the Buddha and reliefs of episodes from the Final Life. Light is provided by two tiers of arched windows in the outer walls as well as by dormer windows in the roof, so placed to illuminate the villages of the standing images.

The superstructure of the Ananda also differs from that of the pahtothamya and the Apeyadana. Three levels of sloping roofs are followed by three receding terraces and above this rises, not a dome, but a mitre-shaped curvilinear tower closely resembling the sikhara or tower of the nagara temple of northern India. The tower is horizontally grooved and has a lancet on each of the four sides in which are set a vertical row of five arched niches containing Buddha images; A stupa- surmounts the tower, its bell-shaped dome held in four cusps at the quoins of the tower. The shape of this superstructure is replicated in the corner stupas of the uppermost roof while those of the lower roofs have a bell-shaped dome.

Shwezigon Pagoda

Shwezigon Pagoda is located in the town of Nyaung Oo four miles to the northeast of the ancient city of Bagan.

The king enshrined the Tooth Relic on the sand bank where the white elephant had bowed its head and there began to build a pagoda. In the year during which the three pissaya or terraces (2) of the pagoda were finished, the Tooth Relic replicated itself into four more copies. These were enshrined in the Tangyidaw, Lokananda, Tonwataung and the Pyektaung pagodas which had been built for them. That same year, an emerald image of the Buddha from China ( given by Thagya min), and the Frontlet Relic taken from a pagoda built in Tharekhettara by King Dvattabaung were enshrined in the Shwezigon.

The king then had crafted a golden image of himself holding a jeweled flower salver and enshrined it in the pagoda. When the interior Shwezigon Pagoda was completed in Thekkarit 420 (1058 AD), it was crowned with a gold hti or umbrella amidst a grand celebration sponsored by the king. Anawrahta had planned to encase this interior pagoda within a larger one measuring 320 thandaung at its base, but he died in Thekkarit 446 (1084 AD) before his plan could be realized.

King Kyanzittha took up the task of completing the unfinished pagoda begun by his father in Thekkarit 451 (1089 AD), on the 13th waxing-moon day of Tansaungmon. His father's plan to extend the pagoda's panap-che or plinth (1) to 320 thandaung was excessive, so Kyanzittha consulted with Shin Arahan and constructed it to a width of 300 thandaung. He then encased the existing dome within a larger one 80 thandaung high.

The Shwezigon was completed with stone slabs hewn from the Tonwataung Pagoda which were three htwa long and one htwa wide. It was crowned with a gold hti or umbrella in Thekkarit 452 (1090 AD), on the full-moon day of Kason. (Some claim that Anawrahta died when he had finished the three terraces, and that Kyanzittha continued the building from there. Others assert that Kyanzittha built a larger structure over an already completed pagoda built during the reign of Anawrahta.). The shape of the pagoda as it is witnessed today is the same which was given to it by Kyanzittha.

Bupaya (or) Bu Pagoda

Built by King Pyusaw Htee, the third king of Bagan. Situated right on the river bank of the Ayeyarwaddy, this pagoda has been claimed to be the oldest in Bagan, dating back to 3rd century AD. The shape is extraordinary being in the shape of a gourd. It was completely destroyed when it tumbled into the river in the 1975 earthquake, but has been totally rebuilt. The Bupaya is setting on a polygonal platform made up of a series of crenulated semi-circular terraces overlooking the river; it has long served as a conspicuous landmark for river travelers. The Bupaya is also a favorite place to watch the sunset.

Lawkanandar Pagoda

Lawkanandar Pagoda is located on the east bank of Ayeyarwaddy river in Thiripyitsaya region. The Lawkananda Pagoda is believed to have been built in 1059 by King Anawratha. It is located on a promontory above a small bay in the east bank of the Ayeyarwaddy that probably served as a port for Bagan and marked the southern extent of the city. Today, the structure displays a columnar bell with vertical sides resting upon three octagonal terraces, two of which are connected by a short staircase. The exterior decoration or this pagoda has been repeatedly refurbished and changed over time and has recently been encased in gilded metal plaques.

Dhammayangyi Temple

Dhammayangyi Temple is located in Old Bagan, over a kilometer in the southeast of the city walls. It is one of the four famous pagodas in Bagan. As the saying " Dhu = Dhammayan (The thickest), Nyan = Thabinnyu (Omniscient), Anu = Ananda (The most sculptural, Thakho = Shwezigon (The most powerful)".

King Narathu built Dhammayangyi temple during A.D 1165. The name Dhammayangyi came from the word Dhamma Ranthi. The Dhammayangyi, extending approximately 255 feet on each of its four sides, is Bagan’s most massive shrine. Among the four extraordinary temples in Bagan, Dhammayangyi is well known for the mass and thickness of the temple. The Dhammayangyi remains one of the most unique and intriguin.

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