I LoVE BAGAN: ANCIENT CITY OF BAGAN

BAGAN

The main tourist destination in Myanmar is Bagan.

Bagan is an ancient city in Myanmar, southwest of Mandalay. Standing on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy River , it is known for Bagan achaeological area, where more than 2,000 buddhists monuments tower over the green plains, centered around Old Bagan.

Bagan's importance lies in its heritage rather than its present. Among its Pagodas, there are four most famous which has its special features as follows:
Dhammayan - the thickest
Thabinnyu - the omniscient
Ananda - the most sculptural
Shwezigon - the most powerful

Bagan is home to the largest and densest concentration of buddhist temples, pagodas, stupas and ruins in the world with many dating from the 11th and 12th Centuries. The shape and construction of each building is highly significant in Buddhism with each component part taking on spiritual meaning.
There were more than 10,000 temples built on the plains. Today, seven centuries later, approximately only 2,200 remain standing.

It is known that the Shwezigon Pagoda was built to enshrine one of the four replicas of the Buddha's tooth.

The pagoda's graceful bell shape became a prototype for virtually all later pagodas in Myanmar.

SHWEZIGON PAGODA

Construction of the pagoda began in the mid 11th Century, during the reign of Pagan emperor Anawratha. According to popular belief, he sent a white elephant with the bone relic of Buddha to wander freely. It was also mounted with the royal declaration that the place where the elephant halted would be selected as the site for the Pagoda. The Shwezigon Pagoda was finally erected on the dune ,where the elephant stopped.

The Chinthes

Thagyamin

The entrance is guarded by 2 huge leogryph, called the CHINTHES. A shrine in the temple commplex contains not just the statues of the 37 Nats, but also a wooden figure of Thagyamin. There are also 4 statues of Buddha in a standing posture, each measuring 12 to 13 ft in height.

reach for the sky...

Beautiful backdrop for photos

I guess she is always reaching for the sky ......

Ananda Temple is considered to be one of the most surviving masterpieces of the Mon architecture. Also known for its finest, largest, best preserved and most revered of the Bagan temples. During the 1975 earthquake, it suffered considerable damage but has been restored.

It is built around 1105 by King Kyanzittha, this perfectly proportioned temple heralds the end of the early Bagan period and the beginning of the Middle period. In 1990, on the 900th anniversary of the temple construction, the temple spires were gilded. The remainder of the temple exterior is white washed from time to time.

The Buddha images at 4 sides are Kassapa at the south, Kakusanda at the north, Konagamana at the east and Gotama at the west. The four Buddha images are different and has its own meaning.

Huge beautifully carved teak doors of 21 ft high separate the interior halls from cross passages on all four sides.

It can be said that it has the best glazed works in Bagan.

We visited the nearby Ananda Monastery called Ananda Okkyaung Monastery simply mean Brick Monastery. It is situated within the temple compound. The inside walls and ceiling are covered with murals and paintings dated back to the 18th Century, depicting Buddha's life and elements of the history of Bagan.

The best time to visit Bagan is just after the rainy season when all the Pagodas and monuments are washed by the rain and environment is green. That's around October.

Unfortunately for us, we were not allowed to take any photos nor bring our smartphones into the monastery. So we cant show you how beautiful the murals paintings and carvings were......

BALLOONING AT SUNRISE

Woke at 445am...TukTuk mand came at 5am... eyes half open, a 15 min tuktuk cruise to a manmade hill to view the famous sunrise. Before Dec 2018, you could climb up the pagoda and watch the sun rise...I guess after years of abuse, they decided to protect the pagodas from further damage and built this hill.

A fairly gradient slope with railings for visitors.

Near to 6am, thousands of visitors noisy and loud..... the hill was instantly crowded and packed.

And at 7am, we could see gigantic mushroom looking things from far, slowly rising up with the sunrise in the background. I must say, even with the noisy tourists, this sight is amazing and breathtaking as the wind gently blows the balloons across our view . Amazing !

The Balloon ride costs US300 per head now.