Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
uncoilings are said to alternately move time forward and instigate creation, and then reverse
it,causingtheuniversetoend.SmallerimagesofthethreemajorgodsoftheHindupantheon
- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - hover above. Further images of Vishnu adorn the three other
sides of the shrine, each holding a disc, mace, trident and lotus.
Standing directly opposite the Nathlaung Kyaung is the Ngakywenadaung Pagoda , a
small,unusuallybulbousstupalookinglikeaminiatureversionofthenearbyBupaya.Traces
of the green glazed tiles that originally covered it can still be seen.
Thatbyinnyu Paya and around
Daily 8am-6pm
Dominating the skyline of Old Bagan is the monumental Thatbyinnyu Paya , one of the
largest temples anywhere in Bagan. It's also the tallest, rising to a height of around 66m, al-
though it's the sheer mass of the building that really impresses. Built by King Alaungsithu
(ruled 1112-67), the temple marks an important transitional point between Bagan's early and
late styles. This was Bagan's first fully fledged “double-cube” two-storey temple, with the
mainshrineplacedontheupperstoreyandthetraditionalground-floorshrinereplacedwitha
“solid-core”structureinordertosupporttheextraweightoftheadditionalstoreyabove.Each
of the two storeys is topped with three terraces (now with flat roofs rather than the pitched
lean-to roofs of earlier temples) and adorned with crenellations and corner stupas. Entrances
are placed at each of the cardinal points - the so-called “four-faced layout” (with a slightly
larger eastern portico) typical of late-period Bagan style and which, unlike earlier temples,
typicallyonlyhadasingleentrance.The interior hasnicetracesofgeometrical floralmurals
inside the west entrance, but is otherwise disappointingly plain.
On the northeast side of the temple, look out for the small “ tally temple ” ( gayocho ). One
brick out of every ten thousand used in the construction of Thatbyinnyu was set aside for
counting purposes and a whitewashed temple built with the resultant bricks - the surprising
scale of the resultant structure gives a good idea of quite how many bricks were consumed
by the mother temple.
Around 100m south of the temple, a small surviving stretch of Old Bagan's crumbling city
walls offers fine views over the surrounding monuments.
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