Page 216 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

214 BAGAN AND AROUND BAGAN
5 The temple is also one of Bagan’s most popular sunset-viewing spots (see box, p.216),
offering splendid views from its narrow upper terraces – although space is at a
premium, and the crowds are unrelenting.

Pitakat Taik
• Daily 8am–6pm
The unusual Pitakat Taik is thought to be the library built by King Anawrahta
(ruled 1044–77) to house the thirty sets of the Tripitaka (the major sacred texts of
the Buddhist canon) seized during the looting of the city of Thaton in 1057, and
which Anawrahta is said to have borne home in triumph on the 32 white elephants
of the vanquished King Manuha. The basic plan of the building is similar to that of
the traditional Bagan temple, with the addition of three small staircases leading up
to the low platform on which the building is set. The crowning spire and extravagant
peacock-style finials adorning the five-tiered roof were added by King Bodawpaya
in 1783.

The Central Plain
The CENTRAL PLAIN is Bagan at its most iconic: untrammelled by human habitation,
its hundreds of temples rise out of the sandy, scrub-covered plains like the archetypal
remnants of some remarkable lost civilization. The scale of the temples and stupas here
is nothing short of astounding; they feature several of Bagan’s most majestic
monuments, including the landmark Shwesandaw Paya, the super-sized
Dhammayangyi Paya and the exquisite Sulamani Paya – perhaps the most perfect of
all Bagan’s temples.

Shwesandaw Paya
• Off Anawrahta Rd, roughly opposite the Ananda Paya • Daily 8am–6pm
Built around 1057 during the reign of Anawrahta, the Shwesandaw Paya (“Golden
Sacred Hair Relic”) was the very first of Bagan’s great monumental stupas. It was
constructed to enshrine a hair relic of the Buddha presented to Anawrahta by the
king of Bago in gratitude for his military assistance in fending off a Khmer invasion.
The design of the stupa established a model subsequently followed throughout Bagan,
with a series of square terraces (decorated with rounded battlements) supporting a huge
bell-shaped stupa (anda). The stupa itself sits on an octagonal base, providing a
structural transition between the square terraces and round superstructure. Steep
staircases lead up all four sides of the structure, providing access to the various terraces;
these were formerly lined with glazed tiles illustrating the Jatakas, although most have
now vanished. The stupa is one of Bagan’s most popular sunset-viewing spots (see
box, p.216), although the marvellous views over Old Bagan are slightly compromised
by the eyesore Archeological Museum, and the relatively narrow terraces get horribly
packed come sundown.
Right next to the stupa, inside the temple compound, look out for the
Shinbinthalyaung Temple, a long, low, brick building housing Bagan’s largest reclining
Buddha (18m long) in parinibbana pose.

Lawkahteikpan Paya
• Around 150m north of the Shwesandaw Paya • Daily 8am–6pm
The diminutive Lawkahteikpan Paya is easily missed but worth a look for its fine
murals. Black-and-white Jataka strip paintings decorate the sides of the entrance hall,
with two Buddha footprints on the ceiling above, while the shrine’s gilded Buddha
image is framed by a series of larger and more colourful painted scenes showing the
usual events from the life of the Buddha, including the ever-popular Temptation of
FROM TOP SHWEZIGON PAGODA P.203; BULLOCKS AND CART, BAGAN >