Bagan was founded in 849 on the banks of the Ayeyarwaddy river
about 500 kilometers north of Yangon. Today it is only a small
town ... with a big past. Bagan once was the capital of
the first realm in today's Myanmar, whose area of dominance had
roughly the extent of the present Burmese state.
Bagan ... today it is, strictly speaking, more of an archaeological
site than a town, because more than 2,000 pagodas cover
in mostly undamaged condition an area of about 40 square kilometers
about the extent of the classical Bagan. Besides that, one finds
in this area, which can be managed in walking stages, at
least another 2,000 temple ruins. Even though Bagan is
less famous than Angkor Wat in Cambodia, it is occasionally
compared to the templecity of the Khmer concerning its archaeological
importance.
Bagan's peak time coincided with Myanmar's architectural
peak time in 1044 with Bagan King Anawratha's ascension
to the throne. Only one year after King Anawratha's conversion
to Buddhism in 1056 by a Mon monk, Shin Arahan,
he went to war against the Mon town of Bago to gain possession
of holy Buddhist scripts (the Tripitaka), which Mon King
Manuba was unwilling to surrender voluntarily.
After a siege lasting several months Manuba finally surrendered.
Bago was destroyed and the Tripataka was transported to Bagan
on the backs of 32 white elephants.But the holy Buddhist
scripts were not the only trophies gained from the war. The Burmanese
army took 30,000 Mons prisoners of war to Bagan, among them numerous
craftsmen and artisans, who in following decades
not only enriched, but even determined, Bagan's culture. The Pagodas
of the following period were almost exclusively built in Mon
style.
The integration of the Mon artisans and craftsmen not only caused
the pagodas to be built in Mon style, but also led to a so far
in Myanmar unparalleled level of construction activity.
In 1287 hordes of Mongolian horsemen under Kublai Khan
conquered Bagan. The town, at least the wooden, secular buildings,
were mostly burnt down. Soon after, the realm of Bagan disintegrated
into many, smaller kingdoms and fiefdoms. In latter times the
town was not rebuilt.
In 1975 a strong earthquake damaged and destroyed many
smaller temples and even a number of large and massively built
temples and pagodas were harmed.
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