After 10 hours on the night bus we reached Bagan in the early morning around 4:30 am.
Immediately a bunch of taxi drivers leached onto us demanding to know where we are going.
One can imagine that after a night spent on a bus one is not in the best of moods...
Fortunately we could join a french couple going to the same hotel as us and knowing the region.
So we went for tea (which made us miss the first red stripes of dawn :s) and a pagoda straight away to watch sunrise - it was not only beautiful but also a great idea as I do not get up at such an hour voluntarily... ;)
The pagoda is a popular spot where lots of tourists come to catch sunrise and sunset.
© courtesy of my travelmate
© courtesy of my travelmate
© courtesy of my travelmate
The Ananda Temple was
built in 1105 AD during the reign (1084–1113) of King Kyanzittha of the Pagan
Dynasty. The temple layout is in a cruciform with several terraces leading to a
small pagoda at the top covered by an umbrella known as hti, which is the name
of the umbrella or top ornament found in almost all pagodas in Myanmar. The
Buddhist temple houses four standing Buddhas, each one facing the cardinal
direction of East, North, West and South. The temple is said to be an
architectural wonder in a fusion of Mon and adopted Indian style of
architecture. The impressive temple has also been titled the "Westminster
Abbey of Burma". The temple has close similarity to the Pathothamya temple
of the 10th–11th century, and is also known as “veritable museum of stones”.
This area is just most amazing.
Hti is the name of the finial ornament
that tops almost all pagodas in Myanmar.
Hti is also a Burmese language
word meaning umbrella.
The hti
can be said as the main distinctive feature of Burmese pagodas, as they are
more prominent than their Sri Lankan counterparts, while the Laotian and Thai
pagodas do not have any. The tip of the hti, which is studded with
precious stones, is called the seinhpudaw. Hti have been found on
pagodas constructed by all four of the pagoda building ethnic groups of
Myanmar: the Mon, the Bamar (Burmans), the Rakhine (Arakanese) and the Shan.
In
pre-colonial Burma, the hti was an indicator of social status and used
exclusively by those who were granted express permission to do so.
Use and
possession of a white umbrella was limited exclusively to the Burmese king and
his chief queen, while the highest officials and royal princes (including the
Crown Prince or Uparaja) possessed golden umbrellas and lower-level
officials possessed red umbrellas, if any.
The white
umbrella was a sign of sovereignty. Indeed, use of a white umbrella by any
persons other than the king and his chief queen was regarded as a declaration
of rebellion, punishable with immediate execution. At the death of the king,
the white umbrellas in his possession were broken.
The hti
is considered the most important part of the pagoda. A special ceremony being
held for the placing of the hti on the pagoda is called hti tin pwe.
The hti
is placed on the top of a pagoda and hung with a multitude of bells. The hti
of prominent pagodas are often made entirely of gold or silver. The bells are
used to attract the attention of good spirits in Tāvatiṃsa and other abodes of
the devas of Mount Meru.
One has to take the shoes of to climb or visit the pagodas inside.
So I have not been in one... I know it is stupid but I still mind.
At our hotel - Thande - when we finally arrived and managed to still score a room
we celebrated with a shower and a great brekky! :D
So we rented bicycles from the hotel and went on tour! :)
Do you wanna ride an oskar (horse car)?!
Bagan is an ancient city located in the
Mandalay Region of Burma (Myanmar).
From the
9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the
first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar.
During the kingdom's
height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples,
pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which
the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day.
© courtesy of my travelmate
The temple was damaged in
the earthquake of 1975. However, it has been fully restored and is well
maintained by frequent painting and whitewashing of the walls. On the occasion
of 900th anniversary of its construction celebrated in 1990 the temple spires
were gilded.
© courtesy of my travelmate
Us having a great time!
© courtesy of my travelmate
A lovely Lady from Taiwan who presented us with a grasshopper she crafted herself. :D
© courtesy of my travelmate
Well yeah so rubbish and how to handle it will be one of the future challenges.
Looks picturesque but also shows some people are actually still living
like back in the days of the last century...
© courtesy of my travelmate
© courtesy of my travelmate
The Sulamani
Temple is located in the village of Minnanthu. The temple is one of the
most-frequently visited in Bagan. It was built in 1183 by King Narapati sithu. The
Sulamani Temple was restored after the 1975 earthquake, and utilises brick and
stone, with frescoes in the interior of the temple. It was rebuilt in 1994.
The Shwezigon Pagoda
is located in Nyaung-U, a town near Bagan. It is a prototype of Burmese stupas,
and consists of a circular gold leaf-gilded stupa surrounded by smaller temples
and shrines. Construction of the Shwezigon Pagoda began during the reign of
King Anawrahta and was completed in 1102 AD, during the reign of King Kyansittha
of the Pagan Dynasty. The pagoda is believed to enshrine a bone and tooth of Gautama
Buddha. Within the compound of the Shwezigon Pagoda is a stone pillar
containing Mon language inscriptions dedicated by King Kyansittha
We went for lunch at the Nanda restaurant - for no other reason as that it was looking inviting. It later turned out to be quite the place recommended by travel guides for its puppet show. Which we were able to enjoy as shortly after us a travel group arrived...
So we went back to the temple we started the day at to catch sunset around 6 pm.
© courtesy of my travelmate
My favourite Temple
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.JPG)
Well unfortunately the sun went down behind clouds - still some special moments.
Although
the government believed that the ancient capital's hundreds of (unrestored)
temples and large corpus of stone inscriptions were more than sufficient to win
the designation of UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city has not been so
designated, allegedly mainly on account of the restorations.
As Bagan is not a proper town with a good infrastructure of restaurants or shops we went to the neighbouring resort for drinks. The view was stunning.
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