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Bagan Attractions

Mingalazedi Pagoda. This pagoda was built in 1284 A.D. by Narathihapati, and is noted for its beautiful glazed terracotta tiles with Myanmar legends around the terraces. It stands on a low square basement with a broad staircase on each side. The comer stupas on the three terraces take the form of a kalasa pot. It has fine proportions and indicates the high watermark of Myanmar religious architecture, because it was constructed a few years before the subversion of the Bagan...

Bagan Museum

The new Bagan Museum glorifies the golden age of Burman culture, those 250 years during which thousands of temples were built in and around the Myanmar capital of Bagan. The builders of Bagan apparently reserved brick for religious monuments for nothing remains of the other buildings, that must have been wooden, in this great capital. The Bagan Archaeological Museum is situated within Old Bagan city near the Gawdawpalin Temple was established in 1998. On entering the museum, one will first...

Sarabha Gateway

Sarabha Gateway. It is the main gate of the east wall and the only structure left of the old city built by King Pyinbya in the 9th century A.D. Traces of stucco carvings on the frieze are visible on the exterior walls. The entrance to it is guarded by two guardian nats or spirits, brother and sister, each of whose image is deposited in a masonry shrine, the male on the left and the female on the right as one...

Dhammayangyi Temple

Dhammayangyi Temple. Built by Narathu who was also called the ‘ Kalagya Min or the king killed by the kalas. The Myanmar chronicles assert that while the construction of the temple was in progress, the king was assassinated by some kalas and it was never completed. Sinhalese sources, however, indicate that it was the Sinhalese who put the king to death. Most of the arches and the major portion of the structure are still sound. The finest brickwork is to...

Bupaya Pagoda

Bupaya Pagoda. Standing on the bank of the Irrawaddy river at Bagan, above rows of crenellated terraces, the small pagoda is a conspicuous landmark to navigators. The dome resembles that of the Ngakywenadaung assuming the form of a cylindrical relic casket. Above it stands a bold convex band upon which rises a tapering stupa finial. Tradition attributes the pagoda to king Pyusawhti who ruled Bagan in the 3rd century A.D: Stylistically it may be ascribed to about 10th century A.D....

Gadawtpalin Pagoda

This pagoda is take to be built between late 12th century to early 13th century. Also it was started by one king and ended by another. The first king to have started this construction was Narapatisithu and finished by King Nadaungmya (1211 to 1234). The name literally means ‘Platform to which Homage is Paid’. The earthquake of 1975 destroyed many precious historical monuments of Bagan including Gadawtpalin. After the quake, the reconstruction of this Pagoda was one of the biggest...

Thatbyinnyu Pagoda

Thatbyinnyu Temple. “Thatbyinnyu” signifies “omniscience” one of the attributes of the Buddha. The temple was built about the middle of the 12th century A.D. by King Alaungsithu, grandson and successor of the King who erected the Ananda. Standing within the city walls, some 500 yards to the south-west of the Ananda, the Thatbyinnyu rises to a height of 201 feet above the ground and overtops all the other monuments. Its general plan is not unlike the Ananda, but it does...

Ananda Pagoda

Ananda Temple. Built by Kyanzittha in 1091 A.D., it is one of the finest and most venerated temples at Bagan. Tradition says that it was built according to the plan furnished by Indian Buddhist monks, which purported to be their cave-temple in the Nandamula mountain held to be in the Himalayas. This temple symbolizes the endless wisdom (Ananta Panna) of the Buddha just as the Thatbyinnyu symbolizes the omniscience of the Tathagata. Hence the name Ananda, which changed later to...

Old Bagan

Old Bagan is the place with many historical remains. It is the core of the archaeological zone and contains several of the main pagodas and shrines, city walls and museum. It is on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River. The followings are listed to be in the Old Bagan region. (Source:...