Sailing over the Myanmar’s Plains of Bagan
Part 1
More than 2,200 eleventh to thirteenth century temples and stupas pepper the forty square miles of Myanmar’s plains of Bagan. Why are so many of these graceful, exotic structures clustered in this Southeast Asian country once known as Burma? And how does a visitor grasp the visual enormity of such a spectacle?
For 250 years, the city that occupied the area served as the capital of the Pagan Empire, a prosperous dynasty that united much of what became Burma. Religion dominated the culture, which included three major Buddhist sects, Hinduism, and native animist traditions. Pagan’s wealthy citizens built more than 10,000 temples and stupas—dome-shaped shrines sometimes holding the remains of revered priests—in what must have been a continual construction frenzy.
My guide said prominent families competed to create ever-increasing and more glorious homages to Buddha and his priests, and to Hindu gods and goddesses. A sprawling city of more than 200,000 included residences, farms, and businesses thriving among a sea of religious architectural creations. The Empire collapsed around 1287 after a series of invasions by Kublai Khan and his Mongol warriors. The city shrank to a small town, never to regain its prominence.
Why are only 2,200 standing today? Seven centuries have not been kind to many that disintegrated from neglect. Over time, pilgrims continued traveling to the renamed city of Bagan to visit several popular places of worship, and today dozens of well-maintained temples financed by devotees still attract worshippers and tourists.
The biggest culprit in the large-scale destruction of this sprawling historical wonder is its location in an active earthquake zone. Over 400 quakes occurred in the twentieth century alone. A single 2016 quake destroyed 350 structures. Myanmar’s military government devotes resources to restoring the most visited buildings, though art historians and preservationists globally have condemned the lack of historic authenticity of materials and design details used in restoration. UNESCO denied designation as a World Heritage site in 1996.
Despite its age, the plains of Bagan are a sight to behold. So how was I able to appreciate its scope and scale? From above.
Part II will appear in two weeks.
IF YOU GO
- By Plane: From Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, to Bagan Nyaung U Airport – 80 minutes
- By bus: From Yangon to Shive Pyi terminal – 10 hours
- By train: from Yangon overnight to Bagan Station – 17-1/2 hours
- Balloon ride: www.balloonsoverbagan.com(make reservations several weeks ahead of time)
- Tourism website: www.go-myanmar.com
For almost 40 years I've traveled worldwide, with a particular focus on India and Southeast Asia. Places culturally atypical to the western eye are more interesting to me. A social services non-profit leader earlier in my career, I am a travel and street photographer; my easy-to-navigate website at www.blainebonhamphoto.comchronicles my adventures. On the site, I note experiences from extensive journals createdon the road. I want to share these stories and photographs with fellow travelers and cultural explorers like your readers.