The horse cart tour of Bagan continues

Approaching Shwesandow Pagoda, Bagan

Sunset viewing from Shwesandow Pagoda, Bagan

Sunset viewing from Shwesandow Pagoda, Bagan

Approach to Ananda Temple, Bagan

Approach to Ananda Temple, Bagan

Approach to Ananda Temple, Bagan

 

North facing Buddha at Ananda Temple, Bagan

 Souvenir dealer at Shwesandow, Bagan

Evening view to the east at Shwesandow, Bagan

Sunset at Shwesandow, Bagan

Sunset at Shwesandow, Bagan

In the home of Win's parents, Nyaung-U

This follows the post on Nyaung U and Old Bagan. The tour is spread over two posts, this being the second. In other words, it took three posts to cover this full day of touring.

THE TOUR continued into the middle of the afternoon. Now we approached the Ananda Temple. From under the horse cart canopy, it took shape through the trees, as jerky patches of white and gold. The sight of the fabled pagoda brought me straight out of a sleepy stupor. Off came the shoes and socks, at the entrance, followed by a bare foot approach down a long tunnel like passage. A feeling of expectancy began to build, as one passed the trinket stalls and minor shrines, before crossing a small court and into a cavernous dark chamber. One stood there first in awe before that gave to a feeling of reflection. A magnificently large Buddha statue, stood there gazing off into "Nibbana" or nothingness. It one one of four monumental temple statues that faced the cardinal points of the compass. 

The Ananda Phato is one of Bagan's most revered temples and was completed in 1105, placing it an the end of the early Bagan era. The design was considered a fusion of the local Mon with Indian architectural styles. According to a legend, King Kyanzittha promptly had the 8 monk architects killed, upon it's completion. It was said that he did not want Ananda Phato copied. If this was in fact true, some basic tenets of Buddhism might have been missed along the way. Apart from this unproven bit of information, King Kyanzitta was considered one of the most important monarchs in Burmese history and this temple one of Bagan's best.

Evening was now approaching and Win gave commands to the horse which pulled the cart even more briskly along. Soon we left a broad boulevard and approached the Shwesandaw Pagoda, over a sandy track. The stupa like pagoda appeared, amongst several others, on the plain ahead. It was one of two sites, assigned for sunset viewing to the foreigner visitors. I think that the segregation policy was acceptable. Noisy travellers like us would have added nothing to the viewing experience for any Burmese pilgrims or visitors. Based on these last few days of touring, one could see that sunrise and sunset watching, was a very important custom and a bit of a business too, in this part of the world.

In darkness we continued to a simple restaurant in Nyaung-U. I persuaded Win to join me for supper and a beer, which he reluctantly did. In the end no harm came of the eroding of our business/client relationship. He shared some of my supper and we enjoyed a few tall bottles of Myanmar brand beer. Quite out of the blue, i got an invited to come with him to his parents home, and so ended this wonderfully packed day of touring the sights of Bagan.

In closing it should be mentioned that Bagan was once the capital city of the first Myanma Kingdom and it covered an area of 23 x 8 km (14 x 5 miles). More then 2,500 Buddhist temples, stupas, monasteries, etc are scattered over the plain and were built from the 10th to 14th centuries. 

A Wikipedia quote of the international reaction to the military regime's woeful restoration program of Bagan:
Bagan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Many of these damaged pagodas underwent restorations in the 1990s by the military government, which sought to make Bagan an international tourist destination. However, the restoration efforts instead drew widespread condemnation from art historians and preservationists worldwide. Critics are aghast that the restorations paid little attention to original architectural styles, and used modern materials, and that the government has also established a golf course, a paved highway, and built a 61-meter (200-foot) watchtower. 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."

Please sign the petition to help make Bagan a UNESCO World Heritage site:
Petition | UNESCO: Award Bagan, Myanmar with the UNESCO World Heritage Center (WHC) Status | Change.org

Link to the magnificent Ananda Phato Temple:

Bagan : Ananda Temple, Myanmar(Burma)

Link to the Ananda Phato Temple:
Bagan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Link to the Shwesandaw Pagoda, used for sunset viewing:
Bagan : Shwesandaw Pagoda, Myanmar(Burma)

Link to the Shwesandaw Pagoda, used for sunset viewing:
Shwe Sandaw Pagoda