Interesting Places in Myanmar
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Bagan
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. |