BURMA PAGAN/BAGAN
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In the many years I am already living in Burma I have learned that Bagan is beautiful but much more than what meets the eye.
The Bagan story is the story of a kingdom growing from village level size to about 70 percent of the size of today's Burma/Myanmar.
It is the story of 55 Bagan kings, of myth and legends, of nats and nagas, of wars, of political intrigues, of lies, treason and murder, of Ari Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism and the fall from a small but bustling and wealthy royal capital to a quiet, dusty place in Burma's dry zone no one would speak of anymore if it were not for Theravada Buddhism and the magnificent temples and pagodas.
Today’s dry and dusty plains of Pagan are despite a significantly increasing number of tourists still enveloped in a tomb-like silence. They are an impressive tribute to Buddhism, especially Theravada Buddhism but otherwise there is nothing that indicates that this was a powerful political and economic centre.
The present Pagan/Bagan is much different from the splendid place that is in Marco Polo's records written from 1295 to 1298 described with the following words: .....one of the finest sights in the world and “The two pyramidal towers entirely build of marble, ten paces in height…. One of these pyramids was covered with plates of gold an inch in thickness, so that nothing besides the gold was visible; and the other with a plate of silver, of the same thickness. ……. The whole formed a splendid object.”
I can only assume that Marco Polo in this description is speaking of one of the pagodas. Which one of the then existing pagodas it might have been I do not know (and as far as I know no one does); maybe it was the Shwezigon Pagoda built in the period from 1070 (?) to 1089 but then, no record says that this pagoda was gilded at that time.
In many of her features present-day Bagan is more like the Pagan that Sir James Scott under his writer name ‘Shway Yoe’ in 1882 (The Burman: His Life and Notions) described with the words:
”Pagan is in many respects the most remarkable religious city in the world. Jerusalem, Rome, Kieff (Kiev), Benares none of these can boast the multitude of temples and the lavishness of design and ornaments that make marvellous the deserted capital on the Irrawaddy. …the whole space is thickly studded with pagodas of all sizes and shapes, and the very ground is so thickly covered with crumbling remnants of vanished shrines that according to the popular saying, you cannot move foot or hand without touching a sacred thing.”
Lifting the curtain of myth and legend and concerning ourselves with the history of Pagan will show that this story is not only one of glory, splendour and beauty. It is also a story of crimes; and here we do not speak of petty crimes. We speak of very, very serious crimes that include patricide, fratricide and murder committed to get to the top and stay at the top. Crimes committed to gain unlimited power and keep it and to amass unimaginable wealth. This is the dark side of the story about power and the Royal families of the Pagan era and post-pagan era: Arrogance and ignorance. Jealousy, violent temper, envy and ill will. Lies and conspiracy, murder and manslaughter, lying and cheating are integral part of the story.
Nowadays, some 8 centuries after Pagan’s golden era, the plain of Burma’s deserted capital on the Ayeyawaddy is still densely dotted with pagodas, temples and other religious buildings what is left of them, respectively. The very buildings that bear silent witness to the religious spirit that pervaded the Kingdom of Pagan from 1044 A.D. to 1277 A.D.
Some 2.217 ‘payas’ of formerly some 13.000 are still giving valid testimony to Pagan’s ‘Golden Era’ when the city became known as ‘The City of Four Million Pagodas’ under King Kyanzittha, Pagan’s greatest King, during whose reign of 28 years thousands of religious monuments were build.
Pagan's era of greatness began when as a result of Shin Arahan's teachings king Anawrahta committed himself to Theravada Buddhism doctrines. These were in Anawrahta's opinion more rational than the mysticism of Nat worship.
Among the important witnesses of ‘Pagan’s Era of Greatness’ are the:
1. Shwezigon Pagoda 2. Ananda Temple 3. Thatbyinnyu Temple 4. Gawdawpalin Temple 5. Dhammayangyi Temple 6. Gubyaukgyi Temple (Wetkyi-In) 7. Shwesandaw Pagoda,8. Shinbinthalyaung Temple 9. Sulamani Temple 10. Htilominlo Temple
11. Lawkananda Stupa 12. Nathlaung Kyaung 13. Mahabodhi Temple 14. Tharaba Gate 15. Dhammayazika Pagoda 16. Mingalazedi 17. Bupaya Pagoda 18. Abeyadana Temple 19. Nanphaya Temple 20. Manuha Temple
Apeyadana Temple Myanmar
Another short in my series of Bagan.
In Early 2015 I spent three weeks in Myanmar. No part did I fall more in love with than Bagan, and archaeological, modern day historical site. True many of the local people were relocated a mile away, but they still all benefit from the visitors that come here to see what I believe is arguably the largest collection of Temples and Pagodas in South East Asia .
Info:Apeyadana Temple is best known for its frescoes inside that depict the Brahmanism gods and divinities of the Mahayana pantheon. Unfortunately, it's quite dark inside and very hard to photograph in there. There is space inside that was meant for a number of statues, but most of those that survived have been moved to the Bagan Archaeological Museum a few miles up the road.2
Music credits: Realization-Hanu Dixit
Free under creative commons licence from You Tube Music Library
Bagan Myanmar Highlights Review Part 2
Brief History Of Bagan
Bagan Sculpture
Founded in about A.D. 849, Bagan, which is the major attraction of Myanmar travel, served as the first Myanmar royal capital from 1044 until 1287. It was a center of Theravada Buddhism, the religion practiced in Myanmar and promoted by King Anawrahta in the eleventh century. The art and architecture of Bagan owed much to the Mon. Anawrahta brought some 30,000 Mon monks, artisans, and scholars to Bagan as part of his war booty from the conquest of the Mon. At the height of the empire in the eleventh century, about five thousand temples stood in Bagan, their architectural styles ranging from early Indian and Mon to later, typically Myanmar styles.
The period of Bagan glory is now also considered the golden age of Myanmar arts. Although, the Myanmar constructed other buildings, such as teakwood palaces, monasteries, and libraries, only Bagan's breathtaking pagodas remain standing today. The Shwezigon Pagoda, built by King Anawrahta, ranks with the Shwedagon in Yangon and Phaung Daw U in Inle Lake as one of the most important shrines in Myanmar. The cross-shaped, 170-foot (52-m) Ananda Temple houses four 30-foot (9m) standing Buddha statues. At 190 feet (58m), the Thatbyinnyu holds the distinction of being the highest temple in Bagan.
In 1287, Bagan was sacked by the invading armies of Kublai Khan from China. An earthquake on July 8, 1957, further destroyed many of the temples. A few have since been restored, but some landmark structures, such as the 900-year-old Buphaya Pagoda, were lost forever.
Today, in the small communities around Bagan and in the neighboring village of Nyaung U, people make their living by fishing, weaving, and producing lacquerware.
Temple overload Will's photos around Nyaung U (Bagan), Myanmar (myanmar bagan young oo)
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