Temples of Bagan - Myanmar (Burma) - page 336

360-degree views. It's located roughly midway between Thatbyinnyu and Dhammay-
angyi. Its top terrace is roomy, which is just as well, considering the numbers of camera-
toting travellers coming by taxi or bus before sunset. If you go during the day, you'll
likely be alone, making it a good spot for temple panoramas.
Shwesandaw means 'golden holy hair': legend has it that the stupa enshrines a Buddha
hair relic presented to King Anawrahta by the King of Ussa Bago (Pegu) in thanks for his
assistance in repelling an invasion by the Khmers. The terraces once bore terracotta
plaques showing scenes from the Jataka but traces of these, and of other sculptures, were
covered by rather heavy-handed renovations. The now-gilded zedi bell rises from two oc-
tagonal bases, which top the five square terraces. This was the first Bagan monument to
feature stairways leading from the square terraces to the round base of the stupa.
The hti , which was toppled by the 1975 earthquake, can still be seen lying on the south
side of the paya compound. A new one was fitted soon after the quake.
About 500ft (150m) north stands Lawkahteikpan Pahto, a small but interesting middle-
period gu containing excellent frescoes and inscriptions in both Burmese and Mon.
Dhammayangyi Pahto BUDDHIST TEMPLE
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Visible from all parts of Bagan, this massive, walled, 12th-century temple (about 1600
feet or 500m east of Shwesandaw) is infamous for its mysterious, bricked-up inner pas-
sageways and cruel history. It's said that King Narathu built the temple to atone for his
sins: he smothered his father and brother to death and executed one of his wives, an Indi-
an princess, for practising Hindu rituals. The best preserved of Bagan's temples, it fea-
tures detailed mortar work in its upper levels.
Narathu is also said to have mandated that the mortarless brickwork fit together so
tightly that even a pin couldn't pass between any two bricks. Workers who failed in this
task had their arms chopped off: just inside the west entrance, note the stones with arm-
sized grooves where these amputations allegedly happened.
After Narathu died - by assassination in 1170 - the inner encircling ambulatory was
filled with brick rubble, as 'payback'. Others quietly argue the temple dates from the
earlier reign of Alaungsithu, which would refute all this fun legend behind it. It's also
likely that this bricking up of the passages was a crude way of ensuring the massive
structure didn't collapse.
The plan here is similar to Ananda, with projecting porticoes and receding terraces,
though its sikhara is reduced to a stub nowadays. Walking around the outer ambulatory,
under ceilings so high you can only hear the squeaks of bats circling in the dark, you can