Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Gubyaukgyi Paya (Myinkaba)
Bagan-Chauk Rd • Daily 8am-6pm • To reach it, turn left on the road downhill just at the beginning of
Myinkaba village (if you reach the Sar Pi Thar restaurant you've gone too far) - it's directly in front of the
Myazedi, easily spotted thanks to its distinctive gilded stupa
Colourful murals - some of the oldest in Bagan - can be found at the small but florid
Gubyaukgyi Paya (not to be confused with the identically named temple in Wet Kyi Inn),
built around 1113 by Prince Rajakumar (aka Yazakumar), a son of King Kyansittha, in hon-
our of his recently deceased father. The temple also offers an intriguing snapshot of Bagan
architecture in evolution. Early-period hallmarks - the low-set, single-storey structure with
aninteriorkeptdeliberatelydarkthankstothealmostcompletedbricked-upwindows(carved
here into unusual geometrical designs) - dominate, although there are hints of the emerging
late-period style in the large shikhara and small rooftop shrine; the latter would subsequently
develop into the fully fledged second storey characteristic of Bagan's later “double-cube”
temples.
The exterior features some exceptionally fine stuccowork and carving, particularly around
the elaborate window frames and pediments. Not much light gets into the gloomy interior .
Thebestpaintings-showingvariousJatakascenescaptionedinMon-areintheambulatory
around the shrine, although it's very dark and you won't see anything without a torch.
Myazedi
Bagan-Chauk Rd • Daily 8am-6pm
Immediately behind the Gubyaukgyi stands the contrasting Myazedi (“Jade Stupa”), centred
around a large, brilliantly gilded stupa. A busy, modern, working temple, it's of minimal ar-
chitectural distinction but is notable as the home of one of the two so-called Myazedi in-
scriptions (the other one being in the Bagan Archeological Museum). Carved onto a large
pillaronthesouthsideofthestupa(nowprotectedbehindbarsinanuglylittleconcreteshel-
ter), the inscription records the creation of the adjacent Gubyaukgyi temple by Prince Ra-
jakumar, with the text repeated in four different languages - Pyu, Mon, Pali and Burmese -
on each side of the square pillar. It's the longest extant inscription in Pyu ever discovered,
whiletheparalleltranslationsonthepillar'sfourfacesserved(likeakindofBurmeseRosetta
Stone) as the basis for the deciphering of the previously untranslatable Pyu script in the early
twentieth century.
Manuha Paya
Bagan-Chauk Rd • Daily 7am-9pm
Bang in the centre of Myinkaba village, the large and always lively Manuha Paya actually
datesallthewaybackto1059,despiteitsrelativelymodernappearance.Accordingtolegend,
the temple was endowed by the captive Manuha, the former king of the Mon city of Thaton ,
whohadbeenbroughtbacktoBaganbytheall-conqueringKingAnawrahtaandheldprison-
er in Myinkaba.
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