Bagan: Myanmar: Snapshots

Nats

SugarCane Juice

Tintin our supercool guide. Horse Cart #76... for anyone going

The mode of transportation: Horse cart

Nathluang Kyaung Temple: Dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu.

Out of 'Vishnu's 10 Avatars' seven remain intact. 

Views from Nathluang Kyaung Temple. 

Water for all

prayer time

fresh coconuts.. only thing to beat the heat

Htilominlo Temple: Bagan: Myanmar

 Htilominlo Temple was built by King Nantaungmya in 1218. He built it on this spot because this was where he was chosen to succeed to the throne. He was chosen over his 5 brothers by an old tradition of seeing which way a white umbrella would tilt. It tilted towards him and so it was.  Gorgeous murals with faded colors. The temple has steep little alcoves that you could crawl up and look out  windows into the plains. We met some friends who showed us these little spots.. and then sold us some postcards!

Thatbyinnyu Temple: Bagan: Myanmar

 Thatbyinnyu Temple was built by King Alaungsithu between 1113-1163. Thatbyinnyutanyan in Myanmar, Sabbannutanana in Pali mean Omniscience of the Buddha.. or seen in contemporary inscrptions "knowing thoroughly and seeing widely." Beautiful murals are still visible in most of the halls of the temple. It is very large and you can see it from everywhere as you drive around Bagan.

Shwezigon Pagoda: Bagan: Myanmar

One of the most beautiful pagodas in Bagan and one of the largest, Shwezigon Pagoda was built as the most important reliquary (container of relics) shrines in Bagan. The Shwezigon Pagoda was built to enshrine one of four replicas of the Buddha tooth, the original is in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The other 3 tooth replicas were enshrined in Lawkananda Pagoda, a smaller pagoda to the south,  Tan Kyi Tuang Pagoda, a pagoda on the western banks of the Irrawaddy River and the last tooth replica was enshrined into Tu Yuan Taung Pagoda which is on a hill 32km to the east. 

It is believed to bring good luck and prosperity if you visit all four teeth replicas in one day. We did not do this!

All of this for a REPLICA of a tooth, not the original.. that is some strong love and devotion.. and a lot of money being thrown around in the 11th century!

Shwezigon ranks as one of the oldest pagodas in Bagan, it is also known as the site where the 37 pre-Buddhist nats (or spirits) were officially recognized and endorsed by the Myanmar monarchy. There is an outlying shed where the images of the nats can be seen. Most of them are behind glass. A few are not and those are the photos above of the little statues.

The 37 Nats of Burma is a structured system of animistic spirits which is fascinating, read more HERE. & HERE

Bagan: Myanmar