Page 213 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

BAGAN BAGAN AND AROUND 211
Mahabodhi Paya 5
• Daily 8am–6pm
Looking like an exotic foreign stranger amid the surrounding Bamar- and Mon-style
temples, the Mahabodhi Paya is built in imitation of (and named after) the great
Buddhist temple at Bodhgaya in North India, erected on the site of the bodhi tree
under which the Buddha gained enlightenment. Built during the reign of Htilominlo,
the temple is dominated by its mighty pyramidal tower, subdivided into horizontal
niches filled with hundreds of small seated Buddhas gazing placidly down at the
passing tourists below. It all looks very Indian, although the temple is far from an exact
copy of the Bodhgaya original – whether this was the result of an intentional redesign
or the consequence of dodgy building contractors remains unclear.
On the north side of the Mahabodhi, the fragmentary brick ruins of the Ratana-Gara
(“Gem House”) house Bagan’s only extant examples of glazed painted tiles, although
they’re so badly worn that they’re virtually indecipherable.

Bupaya
• Daily 7am–9pm
Commanding the Ayeyarwady from atop a high bluff overlooking the water, the
Bupaya (“Gourd Stupa”) is Old Bagan’s most popular place of local worship, with an
atmosphere of cheerful Burmese hustle and bustle that’s quite different from other
temples hereabouts. The small complex’s major feature is its unusual gilded stupa,
raised above the water on a crenellated white terrace, with steps leading down to the
river below. Said to date back to the reign of the semi-legendary third king of Bagan,
Pyuswati (162–243), the stupa’s distinctively bulbous, gourd-shaped outline is typical
of early Pyu architecture – although what you see now is actually a reconstruction, as
the original was toppled during the 1975 earthquake.
Gawdawpalin Paya
• Daily 8am–6pm
A skinny supermodel amid the venerable monuments of Old Bagan, the Gawdawpalin
Paya was begun during the reign of Narapatisithu (1174–1211) and completed by his
son, Htilominlo – and then seriously damaged in the 1975 earthquake, although it’s
since been patched up. With a superb late-period double-cube structure, it looks like a
taller, slimmed-down version of the Thatbyinnyu, with a slender spire reaching a height
of 55m – it’s one of the loftiest in Bagan. Fine stuccowork showing the usual
kirtimukha with pearls and garlands decorates the exterior, although the interior is
disappointingly plain, save for some traces of floral murals around the four main
entrances.
Bagan Archeological Museum
• Tues–Sun 9.30am–4.30pm • K5000 • No photography
Given the wealth of attractions on offer in Bagan, the Bagan Archeological Museum
may seem rather a let-down (and it’s also a very unsightly building).
Entering the museum, the main hall on the ground floor has some fine sandstone
Buddhist carvings from the Gubyaukgye and Nagayon temples in Myinkaba, as well
as a pair of fine pillar inscriptions erected by Kyansittha. The attached “Showroom of
Bagan Period Literature” is full of pillar inscriptions recording the various buildings
donated by local notables to Bagan’s monastic community, along with accompanying
lands, slaves and the occasional cow. Here, you’ll also find the museum’s most
important exhibit, the Myazedi inscription, which is one of a pair of identical carvings
– the other being at the Myazedi temple in Myinkaba (see p.220). Also on the ground
floor, the “Bagan Period Arts and Crafts” showroom is worth a quick look for its rare
cloth painting and models of outlandish Bagan-era hairstyles, plus a mishmash of other
artefacts including some interesting stone carvings and the inevitable pots.