My Trip to Burma: Beautiful Breathtaking Bagan Part 1 - Fascinating Pagodas, Impressive Lacquerware, and an Amazing Sunset
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The domestic terminal at Yangon International Airport is total chaos, but somehow, people seem to get from Point A to Point B. We arrived in Bagan early and were met by our guide, Myint Naing. His English was also heavily accented, but he was more comprehendible than our first guide, Myo.
It was too early in the morning to check into our hotel. Instead, we started sightseeing right upon leaving the airport.
Even though Rangoon and Mandalay are more well known, most
travelers to Burma are in agreement that if you had to limit yourself to one
city in this country, it would have to be Bagan. Burma’s ancient capital from the ninth to the
13th century, Bagan (formerly Pagan) is considered the soul of
Myanmar, much like Sukhothai is the heart of old Siam. During the time Bagan
was the capital, it became fashionable to build pagodas and temples, and
noblemen competed with one another to construct grander and more elaborate
ones. Poorer people built more modest structures. The result: Bagan is one of Asia’s – indeed
the world’s – great sights: 26 square-miles festooned with 4,446 of temples,
pagodas, and religious monuments rising from the flat plain bordering the
Ayeyarwaddy River.
As an architectural showpiece, Bagan is rivaled only by
perhaps Angkor in Cambodia. In Angkor,
most of the major monuments have now disappeared. The temples of Bagan, however, remain
relatively free from crowds, thankfully.
The scale of the monuments is overwhelming. Some temples that would be a main attraction
anywhere else often fail to merit even a mention in most tourist guides. It is impossible to understand through
photographs (although we’ll try here) because its power lies in its sweep. Even in person, walking among the pagodas,
driving among them, climbing up them to watch the sun set, and even surveying
the landscape from the vantage point of a hot air balloon, it’s still a little
difficult to wrap your head around the scale of Bagan’s Plain of Temples. It’s bigger than Manhattan. It’s more than 8 times the size of the
gardens of Versailles. When you look at one of the pagodas, you not only see
that pagoda, but you see a thousand more over its shoulder.
The greater Bagan area is divided into three main areas.
There’s the town of Nyaung U, which is the main center. About 5.5 km down the road is the historic
city of Old Bagan. It has the greatest concentration of historic monuments. About 4.5 km further south is New Bagan.
Stretching inland from the river, the central plain is where you find many of
Bagan’s finest temples. The entire area,
about 40 square kilometers, is known as the Bagan Archeological Zone.
I was expecting our guide to show us pagodas based on area. Instead, he said he was going to take us through Bagan architecture by century, starting with the 10th and 11th centuries, and then showing how the architecture changed as time went on. Myint was a very bright guy. He was very into art and architecture, and his perspective was really wonderful.
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On the terrace, Myint took out some maps and diagrams and gave us a brief overview of the history of Burmese architecture. He then showed us the itinerary he had laid out for us. We were excited to get started. Before leaving, he told us to stroll around the terrace and enjoy the view. We happily complied.
Temples, as far as the eye could see
It was our first real view of Bagan. It's pretty mesmerizing.
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Okay, time to navigate down this little stairwell. First we had to wait for a few others to climb down. First you go down a step or two, then you turn around and go down backwards. It's the only way.
I was surprised to see other folks here. Maybe it's not such a no-name pagoda after all. Compared to some of the others we ended up seeing over the next three days, this one really had nothing distinguishing about it at all.
It had a Buddha statue in it, of course. All of the pagodas do, except those in which it was stolen or destroyed (earthquakes being the most common reason for destruction; Burma has had a lot of earthquakes.)
As we were leaving, I noticed some pretty intricate detail on the exterior.
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I also encountered a really sweet, adorable dog. I would see many, many more dogs during my stay in Burma, but I have to say, this particular dog made the strongest impression on me. Not sure why. I just really felt a nice connection to him. This is exactly the kind of dog I would want to adopt if I ever decided to get a dog.
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Continuing our exploration of the really early temples, we passed by the Nathlaung Kyaung Temple just to the west of the Thatbinnyu. It's the only remaining Hindu temple in Bagan. It's one of the oldest temples in Bagan, built in the 11th century, built during the reign of King Anawratha, although some historians believe it was built in the 10th century during the reign of King Taungthugyi. Whatever. It's freakin' old. It was originally built for Hindu Burmese Indians of the 11th century, including merchants and Brahmins in the service of the king. The temple was closed, and we couldn't go in, but we could peer into it from the outside. Many structures of the original temple have disappeared, although the main hall, which you see here, remains. Originally the temple contained statues of the 10 Avatars of Vishnu, including Gautama Buddha, however, only seven remain today. The brick temple was isolated and in disrepair for many years after it was damaged by earthquakes.
The temple is set on a square template with steeply rising upper terraces. As the oldest temple in Bagan, its style influenced and inspired the numerous other Buddhist structures that followed.
Nathlaung Kyaung means "Shrine Confining Nats or Spirits", a reference to a purported time when King Anawratha tried to banish the worship of nats (spirits) in Bagan. (You'll hear a LOT more about nats in future blog posts.) The King is said to have confiscated all non-Buddhist religious images including indigenous Myanmar nats and Hindu devas. Then he ordered them to be placed in this shrine as part of an effort to establish "pure" Theraveda Buddhism during his reign. Eventually the King gave in to the cult of the nats and he standardized the current line-up of Burmese nats by placing 37 chosen images at the Shwezigon Pagoda. In a few days, we'll visit Mount Popa and see, in a little museum there, life-size depictions of those 37 nats. We couldn't go in, but you can see, adorning the outside (and covered with gratings) Hindu images of the Buddha.
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Nearby were some very cute dogs, including a few puppies that I played with for a bit.
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A brooding Buddha sits in near darkness in the central shrine.
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The temple is believed to be one of five temples built by king Taungthugy (931-964), although some historians suggest it was built by King Sawlu. A floor plan is shown below. You walk through the antechamber (on the right) and then you come to the statue of the Buddha in the shrine. A gloomy and very atmospheric ambulatory leads around the shrine.
The interior is dimly lit, typical of the early type of Pyu-influenced temples. These temples usually had small, perforated stone windows.
The dim light was very atmospheric, and I took one of my best photos in here: Mark (he's a Buddhist) paying his respects.
This is pretty much what they looked like, although they look more intense when you add a little color in Photoshop!
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Next stop: the Ananda Pahto. The Ananda is one of the most stylistically refined and impressive temples in Bagan, and the most revered by Burmese Buddhists. It was built around 1105 by King Kyanzittha, heralding the stylistic conclusion of the Early Bagan period and the beginning of the Middle Period.
The corn-cob looking stupa, soaring 170 feet, underlines the fact that the shrine was designed by Indian architects. It is crowned by a gleaming golden umbrella filial, called a hti. In 1990, on the 900th anniversary of the temple's construction, the temple spires were gilded. You can see two of the gilded spires in the picture above.
The exterior base is embellished with bands of green glazed terra-cotta plaques (554 of them) showing scenes from the Jatakas, episodes of the Buddha’s life, derived from Mon texts.
There's some pretty impressive stucco work along the rooftop
From time to time, the temple's exterior is whitewashed, making sure the place is always gleaming.
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Door guardians, made of exquisitely carved and painted hardwood flank the entrances on the east and west.
When you enter the temple, you pass through a corridor where vendors are selling all sorts of items, religious and non-religious.
The
floor layout is that of a Greek cross embedded in a square, and it is innovative in
that it gives four entrances rather than the customary one. The four grand entranceways lead
to four beautiful gilded Buddhas standing in huge recesses, interconnected by
corridors adorned with fantastic paintings and stone sculptures. These are the four Buddhas who have been said to have attained nirvana. The Buddha statues on the north and south
sides are original, and are posed in the teaching mudra. The other two are replacements for the
original statues which were destroyed by fire in the 1600s.
The recess that contained the Western Buddha, Gautama, was undergoing renovations and as behind a bamboo scaffold. The picture on the right, which I took from a website, shows what it normally looks like. It is posed in the "have no fear" mudra. It's not an original.
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The north facing Buddha (Kakusandha) and south-facing Buddha (Kassapa) are both originals, and both display the dhammachakka mudra, a hand position symbolizing the Buddha's first sermon.
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The long hallways were lined with all sorts of Buddha images.
In a recess in one of the long hallways, a monk was meditating. We left the Ananda and started heading toward the last pagoda of the morning, the Sulamani.
On the way, he pointed out something pretty cool. He told us that some pagodas were rebuilt, and the original stupa was topped by a new stupa. There was a ruin nearby showing the original, small stupa that was buried under the new one.
About a mile away, isolated in the dead center of the Archaeological Zone, we spotted the Sulamani.
Actually, we arrived at the entryway to the Sulamani. You come upon an area where vendors are selling all sorts of souvenirs.
Then you head through an arched entryway....
...and there up ahead is the majestic Sulamani. It was built in 1183 by King Narapatisithu. It’s not the biggest or the tallest, but many people think it’s the most beautiful of all Bagan’s monuments. The name Sulamani means “Crowning Jewel” or "Small Ruby". One of the leading modern authorities on the Bagan archaeological plain, Paul Strachan, calls it "the grandiloquent gesture of an empire at its meridian". It’s a double-cube structure, with two stories of equal height, each topped by three terraces to create a pyramid effect. It strikes a nice balance between the horizontal planes of the Early period with the vertical lines of the Middle period. The shikhara (the tower above the sanctuary) above is a reconstruction following the 1975 earthquake.
The Sulamani was actually more than a temple. The complex originally contained a large number of associated buildings, including an ordination hall, cells for the monks, and a library.
The exterior has fine plasterwork and unusual green and yellow glazed decorative tiles. Only the first floor is open to the public.
The exterior brickwork is considered to be some of the best in Bagan.
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Murals and frescoes from the Konbaung period can be seen on the walls. They are an 18th century addition.
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Our exploration of the early Bagan temples was done. Time for lunch! This was at a lovely restaurant with outdoor seating, called Treasure Cave.
The place was beautiful. They had fermented tea leaf salad on the menu. This is a uniquely Burmese dish that we had tried a few times already. This version was really spectacular. The sauce that it came with was a big factor. I don't know what they put in the sauce, but man oh man, it was fantastic.
After lunch, we finally checked into our hotel, the Bagan Thande Hotel. It was truly lovely. You get your own little bungalow, with a porch. The view looks out into a small yard that is surrounded by other similar bungalows. There were fancier ones, some of which were closer to the pool or to the river, but those were much more expensive and noisier. Ours was perfect.
The grounds were really nice. Very leafy and lush, and very clean. The staff were unbelievably polite.
The room itself was minimally furnished, but charming nonetheless. Wifi was iffy, but that's how it is in all of Burma.
What I really liked was the river view. If you keep walking through the grounds, past the pool, to the outdoor restaurant and beyond, you're afforded a lovely view of the Ayeyarwaddy River. So nice.
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He also was telling us how he went to a conference to represent Burma's lacquerware industry and he met President Obama there. He was very proud of that photo.
It's a complicated process, and requires real patience and concentration. I was very impressed with the skill and maturity of the young workers. Some of the etching on the lacquerware is so small and intricate and detailed. These people are real artists.
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We left our shoes at the bottom (like you have to do at all pagodas), and raced on up.
What can I say? Let the sunset photos begin:
It was so peaceful and serene. Everyone was just chilling and relaxing before, during, and after. These Buddhist nations really have the relaxing thing all figured out.
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