Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ARCHITECTURE OF BAGAN
Much of the history of Burmese temple architecture can be seen at Bagan . The buildings
of Bagan divide into two periods: early and late. Temples of the early period (roughly
850-1120), such as the Pahthothamya Paya, are heavily influenced by early Pyu and Mon
architectural styles - typically low and heavy one-storey structures topped by a small and
rather cursory stupa. Interiors are kept deliberately dark in order to create a sense of mys-
tery: most early shrines have just a single door and small windows with tiny latticework
openings. Inside, there's usually a central shrine plus antechamber, with perhaps an ambu-
latory around the central shrine. Stupas, like the Bupaya and that at the Lawkananda Pa-
goda,aremodelled onearlier Pyuexamples at,forexample, Thayekhittaya: cyclindrical or
slightly bulbous in outline, with little of the shapely finesse of later examples.
The city's late period architecture (roughly 1120-1300) shows the emergence of the
unique Bagan style. Temples become taller, with the addition of a second shrine (often the
mainshrine)ontheupperstorey.Windowsbecomemuchlargerandinteriorsmuchlighter;
many later temples also have four entrances (“four-faced” temples, as they're sometimes
called) rather than the previous single entrance, also admitting more light. The rooftop
stupa grows in size, ultimately developing into the soaring stupa-spires which top many
temples, usually combining a rather Indian-looking tower with curved sides (known as a
“shikhara”) with a stupa on top. Tiers of gradually smaller terraces connect the three parts
of the structure - the two shrines and the stupa-spire - their corners decorated with mini-
aturestupasorIndian-style kalasa (nectarpots),whilemanyalsohaveeducationalcarvings
showing scenes from the Buddhist Jataka tales. The central shrine of earlier is now filled
in to support the weight of the superstructure above, and an ambulatory (occasionally a
double ambulatory) built around this solid central core, with a Buddha standing at each of
its four sides.
Buildersalsoachievedaremarkablemasteryintheartof brickvaulting ,atleastacentury
in advance of anything else achieved in Asia at that time (the expertise proved by the fact
that most temples survived the massive earthquake that hit Bagan in 1975). These skills
were lost after the fall of Bagan, as demonstrated by the failed Mingun Pagoda project ini-
tiated by King Bodawpaya near Mandalay in 1790.
Late-period stupas , like the Mingalazedi and those at the Shwesandaw and Shwezigon
pagodas,arealsodramaticallydifferentfromearliermodels,typicallymuchtallerandmore
slender in outline, with a bell-shaped body set on an octagonal base and surmounted by a
tall spire, with the whole structure set upon a huge square plinth. This design set the pro-
totype for most subsequent stupas built across the country. There are also a couple of rare
examples of stupas set upon pentagonal bases (the Dhammayazika is the best example)
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