Only Hindu temple in Bagan, Myanmar
This is the only Hindu temple in Bagan right next to the biggest temple in the complex. It is from around the 10th century and has some very old artifacts. Some were destroyed in the major earthquake of 2016 which destroyed a lot in The historical place of Myanmar. The lady describes a lot and is a little hard to understand but I will take you through with a small tour in this short video.
Bagan Travel Guide - Myanmar Unique Moments
Bagan Travel Guide - Myanmar Unique Moments
Bagan is an ancient city and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. Bagan, located on the banks of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, is home to the largest and densest concentration of Buddhist temples, pagodas, stupas and ruins in the world with many dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. The shape and construction of each building is highly significant in Buddhism with each component part taking on spiritual meaning.
Bagan became a central powerbase in the mid 9th century under King Anawratha, who unified Burma under Theravada Buddhism. It is estimated that as many as 13,000 temples and stupas once stood on this 42 sq km plain in central Myanmar, and Marco Polo once described Bagan as a gilded city alive with tinkling bells and the swishing sounds of monks' robes. Approximately 2,200 remain today, in various states of disrepair. Some are large and well maintained, such as the Ananda Pahto, others are small tumbledown relics in the middle of overgrown grass. All sites are considered sacred, so when visiting, be respectful including removing shoes as well as socks before entering or stepping onto them.
Bagan's golden age ended in 1287 when the Kingdom and its capital city was invaded and sacked by the Mongols. Its population was reduced to a village that remained amongst the ruins of the once larger city. In 1998, this village and its inhabitants were forcibly relocated a few kilometers to the south of Bagan, forming New Bagan where you will find accommodation in its handful of cheap, quaint, clean hotels and religious centers.
There are many places to eat in Old Bagan serving the traditional Burmese dishes, especially good old noodle soup. Some of the buffets are excellent; for about USD 4 you can eat to your heart's content from dozens of different traditional dishes. Most accommodation nowadays are found in New Bagan or Nyaung Oo. In Old Bagan, only some government-involved, luxury hotels remain. The most visited temples (but not necessarily the best) are located along the northern stretch of Nyaung Oo Rd. or at Nyaung Oo township and downwards before you arrive in Old Bagan. Don't forget that Bagan area and its 3000+ temples streches over a 20km x 20 km perimeter; if you really want to see and appreciate Bagan you'll need to rent a bike or a taxi or a horse cart, you can't do it on foot. Nyaung Oo town has the most budget accommodations.
You can take a hot air balloon ride at sunrise through 2 companies in Bagan one is called Balloons Over Bagan, around US$ 320 per person and the other is called Bagan Ballooning, US$ 350 per person with less people in the basket. The 2 companies operate from October till April.
A lot to see in Bagan such as :
Ananda Temple
Bupaya Pagoda
Dhammayangyi Temple
Dhammayazika Pagoda
Gawdawpalin Temple
Gubyaukgyi Temple (Wetkyi-in)
Gubyaukgyi Temple (Myinkaba)
Htilominlo Temple
Lawkananda Pagoda
Mahabodhi Temple
Manuha Temple
Mingalazedi Pagoda
Minyeingon Temple
Myazedi inscription
Nanpaya Temple
Nathlaung Kyaung Temple
Payathonzu Temple
Seinnyet Nyima Pagoda and Seinnyet Ama Pagoda
Shwegugyi Temple
Shwesandaw Pagoda
Shwezigon Pagoda
Sulamani Temple
Tharabha Gate
Thatbyinnyu Temple
Tuywindaung Pagoda
( Bagan - Myanmar ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Bagan . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Bagan - Myanmar
Join us for more :
CyArk documents the Ananda ok Kyaung Monastery in Bagan
Working with UNESCO and the Department of Archaeology in Myanmar, CyArk uses a suite of technologies to document the site, producing products that can be used in its restoration.
BURMA PAGAN/BAGAN
Please go to my website
In the many years I am already living in Burma I have learned that Bagan is beautiful but much more than what meets the eye.
The Bagan story is the story of a kingdom growing from village level size to about 70 percent of the size of today's Burma/Myanmar.
It is the story of 55 Bagan kings, of myth and legends, of nats and nagas, of wars, of political intrigues, of lies, treason and murder, of Ari Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism and the fall from a small but bustling and wealthy royal capital to a quiet, dusty place in Burma's dry zone no one would speak of anymore if it were not for Theravada Buddhism and the magnificent temples and pagodas.
Today’s dry and dusty plains of Pagan are despite a significantly increasing number of tourists still enveloped in a tomb-like silence. They are an impressive tribute to Buddhism, especially Theravada Buddhism but otherwise there is nothing that indicates that this was a powerful political and economic centre.
The present Pagan/Bagan is much different from the splendid place that is in Marco Polo's records written from 1295 to 1298 described with the following words: .....one of the finest sights in the world and “The two pyramidal towers entirely build of marble, ten paces in height…. One of these pyramids was covered with plates of gold an inch in thickness, so that nothing besides the gold was visible; and the other with a plate of silver, of the same thickness. ……. The whole formed a splendid object.”
I can only assume that Marco Polo in this description is speaking of one of the pagodas. Which one of the then existing pagodas it might have been I do not know (and as far as I know no one does); maybe it was the Shwezigon Pagoda built in the period from 1070 (?) to 1089 but then, no record says that this pagoda was gilded at that time.
In many of her features present-day Bagan is more like the Pagan that Sir James Scott under his writer name ‘Shway Yoe’ in 1882 (The Burman: His Life and Notions) described with the words:
”Pagan is in many respects the most remarkable religious city in the world. Jerusalem, Rome, Kieff (Kiev), Benares none of these can boast the multitude of temples and the lavishness of design and ornaments that make marvellous the deserted capital on the Irrawaddy. …the whole space is thickly studded with pagodas of all sizes and shapes, and the very ground is so thickly covered with crumbling remnants of vanished shrines that according to the popular saying, you cannot move foot or hand without touching a sacred thing.”
Lifting the curtain of myth and legend and concerning ourselves with the history of Pagan will show that this story is not only one of glory, splendour and beauty. It is also a story of crimes; and here we do not speak of petty crimes. We speak of very, very serious crimes that include patricide, fratricide and murder committed to get to the top and stay at the top. Crimes committed to gain unlimited power and keep it and to amass unimaginable wealth. This is the dark side of the story about power and the Royal families of the Pagan era and post-pagan era: Arrogance and ignorance. Jealousy, violent temper, envy and ill will. Lies and conspiracy, murder and manslaughter, lying and cheating are integral part of the story.
Nowadays, some 8 centuries after Pagan’s golden era, the plain of Burma’s deserted capital on the Ayeyawaddy is still densely dotted with pagodas, temples and other religious buildings what is left of them, respectively. The very buildings that bear silent witness to the religious spirit that pervaded the Kingdom of Pagan from 1044 A.D. to 1277 A.D.
Some 2.217 ‘payas’ of formerly some 13.000 are still giving valid testimony to Pagan’s ‘Golden Era’ when the city became known as ‘The City of Four Million Pagodas’ under King Kyanzittha, Pagan’s greatest King, during whose reign of 28 years thousands of religious monuments were build.
Pagan's era of greatness began when as a result of Shin Arahan's teachings king Anawrahta committed himself to Theravada Buddhism doctrines. These were in Anawrahta's opinion more rational than the mysticism of Nat worship.
Among the important witnesses of ‘Pagan’s Era of Greatness’ are the:
1. Shwezigon Pagoda 2. Ananda Temple 3. Thatbyinnyu Temple 4. Gawdawpalin Temple 5. Dhammayangyi Temple 6. Gubyaukgyi Temple (Wetkyi-In) 7. Shwesandaw Pagoda,8. Shinbinthalyaung Temple 9. Sulamani Temple 10. Htilominlo Temple
11. Lawkananda Stupa 12. Nathlaung Kyaung 13. Mahabodhi Temple 14. Tharaba Gate 15. Dhammayazika Pagoda 16. Mingalazedi 17. Bupaya Pagoda 18. Abeyadana Temple 19. Nanphaya Temple 20. Manuha Temple
Hinduism in Southeast Asia | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Hinduism in Southeast Asia
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through
audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio
while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using
a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
In case you don't find one that you were looking for, put a comment.
This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.
SUMMARY
=======
Hinduism in Southeast Asia has a profound impact on the region's cultural development and its history. As the Indic scripts were introduced from India, people of Southeast Asia entered the historical period by producing their earliest inscriptions around the 1st to 5th century CE.Hindu civilization also transformed and shaped the social construct and statehood of Southeast Asian regional polity. Through the formation of Indianized kingdoms, small indigenous polities led by petty chieftain were transformed into major kingdoms and empires led by a maharaja with statecraft concept akin to those in India. It gave birth to the former Champa civilisation in southern parts of Central Vietnam, Funan in Cambodia, the Khmer Empire in Indochina, Langkasuka Kingdom and Old Kedah in the Malay Peninsula, the Sriwijayan kingdom on Sumatra, the Medang kingdom, Singhasari and the Majapahit Empire based in Java, Bali, and parts of the Philippine archipelago. The civilisation of India influenced the languages, scripts, written tradition, literatures, calendars, beliefs system and artistic aspects of these peoples and nations.