Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The engaging
Mimalaung Kyaung
(“The Temple Which Fire Cannot Burn”) is one of Old
Bagan's prettiest monuments. Built in the reign of Narapatisithu, the small temple acquired
its soubriquet after surviving a devastating conflagration in 1225. Its fire-resistant qualit-
ies are enhanced by the unusually high platform on which it's built, reinforced with huge
buttresses and ascended via a small staircase lined with a large pair of cheerfully grinning
chinthe.Thesmall
shrine
ontheplatformatthetopissimilarlyunusual,toppedwithafanci-
fullysculptedroofandslenderspire,whileitselevatedpositionalsoprovidesoneofthefinest
views
in Old Bagan, with the monumental Thatbyinnyu close by, the Ananda temple rising
behind and various other monuments dotted below.
Pahtothamya Paya
Follow the dirt road in front of the Mimalaung Kyaung for around 250m • Daily 8am-6pm
Built sometime in the tenth or eleventh century, the brooding
Pahtothamya Paya
is a low-
set, heavy structure in classic early-period style, with tiny latticed-brick windows and an in-
congruously slight and inconsequential Sri Lankan-style stupa plonked on top - typical of
the city's oldest temples before the curved shikhara-style tower became the superstructure of
choice. Entrance to the
interior
is through an arched antechamber which looks rather like
the inside of a capsized ship. Blackened mosaic-style murals line the walls, while a brooding
Buddha sits in near-darkness in the central shrine. Past here, a gloomy and intensely atmo-
spheric
ambulatory
leads around the shrine. Shine a torch, and the walls come alive with
marvellouslydetailedmurals-someoftheoldestinBagan-captionedinMonandincluding
scenes showing Prince Siddhartha on a boating trip and a fine panel depicting the legendary
visit of Kaladevila to the infant Buddha-to-be, the sage splendidly bearded and clad in an ex-
travagant red cloak, holding the tiny Prince Siddhartha aloft in one hand.
Nathlaung Kyaung and around
Daily 8am-6pm
The modest
NathlaungKyaung
is one of the oldest temples in the city, possibly dating from
the reign of Anawrahta, or perhaps as much as a century earlier. It's also notable for being
Bagan'sonlyHindutemple,builtforIndianmerchantsvisitingthecityanddedicatedtoVish-
nu (the name means “Temple Where The Nats Are Confined” - perhaps a reference to the
foreign Hindu deities contained within). The compact square structure, topped with an elab-
orately moulded spire, is now somewhat reduced from its former dimensions, the original
entrance hall having disappeared. Niches lining the exterior formerly housed images of the
ten incarnations of Vishnu, although only seven survive, all pretty battered. Note, also, the
dramatic flame-shaped pediment over the entrance, perhaps the oldest of its kind in Bagan
and marking the first appearance of what would become one of the city's most distinctive ar-
chitectural motifs.
Inside
,asmallambulatorysurroundsasingleshrine.Facingtheentranceisamodernsculp-
ture of Vishnu reclining on the cosmic serpent Anata-Sesha, whose successive coilings and
