Page 222 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

220 BAGAN AND AROUND BAGAN
5 minimal architectural distinction but is notable as the home of one of the two so-called
Myazedi inscriptions (the other one being in the Bagan Archeological Museum).
Carved onto a large pillar on the south side of the stupa (now protected behind bars in
an ugly little concrete shelter), the inscription records the creation of the adjacent
Gubyaukgyi temple by Prince Rajakumar, with the text repeated in four different
languages – Pyu, Mon, Pali and Burmese – on each side of the square pillar. It’s the
longest extant inscription in Pyu ever discovered, while the parallel translations on the
pillar’s four faces served (like a kind of Burmese Rosetta Stone) as the basis for the
deciphering of the previously untranslatable Pyu script in the early twentieth century.
Manuha Paya
• Bagan–Chauk Rd • Daily 7am–9pm
Bang in the centre of Myinkaba village, the large and always lively Manuha Paya
actually dates all the way back to 1059, despite its relatively modern appearance.
According to legend, the temple was endowed by the captive Manuha, the former
king of the Mon city of Thaton (see p.358), who had been brought back to Bagan by
the all-conquering King Anawrahta and held prisoner in Myinkaba.
The temple itself is one of the earliest two-storey structures in Bagan, looking a bit
like the Thatbyinnyu but smaller and dumpily proportioned. A huge golden alms bowl
stands in the entrance hall, with three huge Buddhas squeezed into a trio of tiny
shrines behind – their cramped living quarters are said to symbolize the captivity and
reduced circumstances of Manuha himself. A large reclining Buddha occupies a fourth,
slightly larger, shrine at the back of the temple.
Nanpaya
• Directly behind Manuha Paya • Daily 8am–6pm • To reach it, exit the courtyard of Manuha Paya via the steps
in the southwest corner and turn left; alternatively, follow the small track around the Manuha Paya wall on the left side of the temple
through the red and gold arch and you’ll see it almost immediately on your left
Like the adjacent Manuha Paya, the Nanpaya (“Palace Temple”) is closely associated
with Manuha, the deposed king of Thaton. One legend states that Manuha lived here
during his years of exile; another, that it was built on the site of Manuha’s former
residence by his grandson during the reign of Narapatisithu, although the temple’s
distinctively low and heavy-set early-period design style suggests that it’s at least a
century too old for this particular theory to be true.
Whatever its provenance, the Nanpaya is one of Bagan’s more offbeat structures. It’s
unusual chiefly for being constructed largely of sandstone rather than the customary
brick, while the stumpy shikhara-style curvilinear tower on top may have been the first
of its kind in Bagan, setting a trend for rooftop towers rather than stupas which would
henceforth be the city’s defining style. Note too the finely carved floral frieze running
around the base of the windows, with tiny hamsa inserted within each swirl of leaves.
The interior is similarly interesting, with a unique open-plan arrangement featuring
four massive sandstone pillars. Etched onto the pillars are some of Bagan’s finest
carvings. Gape-mouthed kirtimukha are shown on two sides of each pillar, while the
other sides sport three-headed images of the Brahma (often co-opted into Buddhist
mythology) holding a pair of lotus flowers. A now-vanished Buddha statue originally
stood in the centre.

Apeyadana Paya
• Bagan–Chauk Rd, just south of Myinkaba village • Daily 8am–6pm
Named after (and possibly commissioned by) King Kyansittha’s first wife, the
diminutive Apeyadana Paya (or Abeyadana) is a superb example of Bagan’s
early-period architecture, its exterior decorated with fine brick-lattice windows
and with a Sri Lankan-style rooftop stupa above (very similar to the one at the
Pahtothamya in Old Bagan, which was built at roughly the same time). Inside sits