 Bagan
Bagan (Pagan) is the most wondrous sight in Myanmar, if not
Southeast Asia. Across 40 sq km of country. Stretching back from the
Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River stands thousands of stupas (temples).
In every direction you'll see ruins of all sizes. Bagan stands along
side the other great centres of S.E Asia like Angkor Wat in Cambodia
or Borobudur in Indonesia.
The history of Bagan started in 107AD and finished in 1369AD. It
took over 1260 years with 55 kingdoms. Ancient chronicles state that
there were once 4446 temples over its wide plains but today only
2230 remain, as recorded by UNESCO in 1988.
Although the kingdoms of Bagan date back almost to the beginning
of the Christian era, Bagan only entered the golden age with the
conquest of Thaton in 1057AD. Just over 200 years later, in 1287,
Bagan was abandoned and over-run by the Tartar hordes of Kublai
Khan. But what fantastic effort went into 200 years of construction.
Bagan's prime started with Anawrahta's ascent to the throne in
1044. At this time a monk was sent by the Mon king of Thaton,
Manuha, to convert Anawrahta; he met with such success that
Anawratha asked Manuha, to give him a number of sacred texts and
important relics. Manuha, uncertain of the depth of Anawrahta
beliefs, refused the request. Anawrahta marched his army south,
conquered Thaton and carted back to Bagan everything worth carrying
including 32 sets of Buddhists religious writings, the city monks
and architects and the King Manuha himself. Immediately Anawrahta
set about a great program of building. Amongst the better known
monuments he constructed are the beautiful Shwezigon Pagoda,
considered a prototype for all later Burmese stupas. The threat of
invasion from China by Kublai Khan threw the last powerful ruler of
Bagan into a panic. After a great number of temples were torn down,
the city was suddenly abandoned.
In 1975 Bagan was shaken by a powerful earthquake. At first it
was thought that this 1000 year old wonder was totally ruined but in
fact the story wasn't as nearly as disastrous. Although many temples
were badly damaged reconstruction started immediately and the major
restoration work is completed.
Today a few tiny farming villages are the only occupants of the
great city.
Bagan offers luxurious river side accommodations where after a hard
day's temple watching visitors can relax with a few sun downers to
watch the Ayeyarwady River flow by. Bagan is also famous as the
centre of Myanmar's lacquer ware industry. You can watch the skilled
artist at work as they work on the various stages over a period of 6
months. Buddhist monuments in Myanmar fall into 2 basic styles solid
pagoda stupas and hollow pagoda temples.
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