Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
'There are now at least 3300 “sites” in Bagan and they are still digging up new ones,'
says Hudson, who points out that many international authorities have criticised the poor
workmanship and historically inaccurate methods, styles and materials often being em-
ployed.
Putting this into perspective, Hudson notes that construction appears to have begun on
new monuments every two weeks between 1200 and 1280. Down history these hastily
built structures have been patched up, repaired and rebuilt. 'It's the ancestors of the same
dodgy contractors who are doing the work today,' he quips.
A Living Religious Site
Following the 1975 quake, Unesco spent 15 years and more than US$1 million on restor-
ation projects. But Bagan's current advanced state of restoration is mainly because of a
hugely successful donations program initiated by the government in the mid-1990s and
enthusiastically supported by many merit-making locals. The result, according to one
Unesco official, is 'a Disney-style fantasy version of one of the world's great religious
and historical sites'.
Defending the rebuilding program, Culture Minister Win Sein was quoted in
The New
Light of Myanmar
as saying 'it is our national duty to preserve, strengthen and restore all
the cultural heritage monuments of Bagan to last and exist forever', pointing out that the
temples are 'living religious monuments highly venerated and worshipped by Myanmar
people'.
This conflict of interests aside, zoning restrictions continue to be broken in the Bagan
archaeological area, the most notable recent examples being the construction of the
Aureum Palace's Bagan Viewing Tower at the east end of the central plain and the Bagan
Golden Palace - both of which seem large and incongruous on the temple-strewn plain.
KEY BAGAN DATES
c 950
Evidence from the remains of Pyu-style buildings is the earliest indication of
a settlement on this bend in the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy).
1057
Temple building speeds up with the sacking of the Mon city of Thaton by
Bagan's warrior king Anawrahta, a newly enthusiastic devotee of Buddhism.
c 1100-70
Temples become bigger and are better lit by broader windows, with
more of an eye to vertical proportions than horizontal lines.
