Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The modest little
Nandamannya Paya
, built in 1248 during the reign of Kyazwa, is of in-
terest mainly for its murals - some of Bagan's most famous. These include a fine painting
of the
birthoftheBuddha
showing Prince Siddhartha emerging from the hip of his mother,
QueenMaya,andawell-knowndepictionofthe
TemptationofMara
,inwhichscantilyclad
nymphs attempt vainly to rouse the Buddha from his meditation (face the shrine's Buddha
statue and the Mara mural is behind you in the left corner at around waist height, while the
birth of the Buddha is on your right, to the left side of the window).
BehindtheNandamannyalookoutfortheoddlittle
KyatKanKyaung
,amodernmonastic
building placed in a large hole in the ground in order to minimize outside distraction.
Thambula Paya
200msouthoftheNandamannyaPaya•Daily8am-6pm(Ifthetemple'slocked,askatthePayathonzuPayafor
someone to let you in)
SimilarinappearancetothenearbyNandamannya,theprettylittlelate-style
ThambulaPaya
(1255) is home to another superb tranche of murals - and for once the airy interior, with
its high ceilings and tall pointed arches, is sufficiently light that you probably won't need a
torch to see them. A profusion of densely detailed paintings covers virtually every surface,
and includes floral decorations, miniature mosaic-pattern Buddhas and, in the west portico
and elsewhere, several intricately painted inscriptions. The murals in the north porch are es-
pecially fine, and look out too for the unusual painting of a boat race inside the south porch.
Payathonzu Paya
300m south of the Thambula Paya • Daily 8am-6pm
Atruecuriosity,theunique
PayathonzuPaya
(“TempleofThreeBuddhas”)comprisesthree
identical small tower-topped shrines joined together in a line and connected by a single cor-
ridor.TheshrineshousesomeofBagan'smostunusual
murals
,whicharelightenoughtosee
without a torch. Entrance is via the middle shrine; this and the shrine to your left (the eastern
shrine) are richly decorated in unusual paintings showing a pronounced Mahayana or pos-
sibly even Tantric Buddhist influence, with many-armed figures, embracing couples, strange
mythological animals and (in the eastern shrine) a small picture of a three-headed Brahma.
Attheoppositeendofthetemple,thewallsofthewesternshrineareentirelybare,suggesting
that the temple wasn't finished.
Leimyethna Paya
200m south of the Payathonzu Paya • Daily 8am-6pm
Sitting on a platform reached by a rustic stairway roofed in corrugated iron, the
Leimyethna
Paya
(“Temple of the Four Faces”) is a fine late-period temple, built in 1223 by a minister
of King Htilominlo. The intricately designed shrine features a mass of decorative pediments,
miniature corner-stupas and moulded terraces, with a fine shikhara above. Inside, the light,
airy interior is brightly decorated, with many mosaic-pattern black and gold Buddhas in the
