A forest of stupas
8 August 2010….The only real attraction I had ever heard of in Myanmar was Bagan. From what I heard over the years Bagan was a place of unbelievable stupas, thousands of them, all built hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Comparisons have been made with Angkor Wat in Cambodia which in my mind puts it in the ‘Top Ten’ category.
So we expected our visit to Bagan to be the highlight of our trip to Myanmar. And what a place it turned out to be.
We got a strong hint of what was to come over the next two days as we looked out the window on final descent from our surprisingly good Air Bagan flight (and as I’ve always said, if you’re going to pay $19 for your flight you deserve a decent breakfast, which we got). Tightly scattered amongst the trees, fields, hills, houses and dirt roads below us was thousands of stupas, all pointing up in different sizes and shapes and conditions for as far as we could see. No exaggeration to say it looked like a forest of stupas.
With Joe, our guide for the day, and our driver who’s unfortunate name sounded like Oh oh, we spent the full day (and into the evening!) seeing the best Bagan had to offer. To say we hit 20 temples when there are over 4,000 of them sounds like a poor effort but we’ll try to see the rest next time we come. So what is Bagan and why is Bagan?
Well, best we can figure, a series of kings tried to outdo each other from the 11th to the 13th century, along with their generals, noblemen, towns, villages, etc. So everyone was building temples, partly for themselves, partly to outdo their neighbours, all in the name of Buddhism. Different architectural styles and design features reflected different eras but most of them were remarkably similar in that they had a square structure with a Buddha facing in each compass direction and a huge stupa pointing up from the middle. Some were in better condition than others, many had beautiful murals on their walls, others still had dark internal stairs leading up to higher levels for broader views of the area.
A huge earthquake in 1838 damaged many of these structures which were already 600 years old, and many pointed cones from the stupas were toppled, as well as damage to some of the finer external features and the Buddhas who sit inside. Some restoration work had been completed since then, mainly to replace the pointed top of the stupa, but most were left in a damaged condition.
What we saw on this packed and exhausting day in the tropical heat was beyond our language and almost beyond the 8GB memory card in my camera. There were numerous highlights but a few worth mentioning – first and biggest, Shwezigon Paya on the banks of the mighty Irrawaddy River in the village of Nyaung U (very cool name). This 12th century temple is the only ancient structure still being used today and was brilliantly gold, blindingly reflecting the heat from the morning sun. We particularly liked Ananda Paya (the largest temple at Bagan)…..and Shwesandaw Paya where we ended the day from our horse-drawn cart and climbed up the vertical steps to the highest level to enjoy the sunset over the Irrawaddy River and the forest of stupas below us. Amazing stuff.
The sheer quantity and quality of these stupas was numbingly overwhelming and you had to constantly pinch yourself to remember they were built up to 1,000 years ago. There were so many stupas that at one place they had to cut a section off a modest temple to make room for the single lane road we were travelling on. Some of the murals were quite stunning, although in some cases they had been added centuries later or ‘restored’ more recently.
But our favourite pastime for the day was when the stupa had a stairway up to its higher levels. Frequently these stairs were up very narrow dark passages with a very low ceiling (ouch!) but the views from above were stunning, 360 degrees of history, culture, architecture and religion splayed out around us.
Bagan was also our second taste of the Myanmar transport system. Because no private citizens own cars the demand for roads is very low. As a result, most roads are in very poor condition, some only single lane, frequently only dirt tracks. There were quite a few motor bikes but the most common transport besides walking was old and creaky single gear push bikes.
We were also introduced to a scene we would see over and over in Myanmar, the oxen-drawn cart with large wooden wheels and a flat bed area for transporting goods or people. A scene right out of the early 19th century, these oxen (or bullocks, if you like) were also common in the fields pulling plows while guided by the farmer walking behind. We took a pile of photos of these primitive farming scenes in the foreground while ancient stupas loomed in the back. Are we really in 2010?
We also enjoyed an unexpected treat when our guide Joe led us to a local monastery to watch the monks eat their midday meal. This ancient practice follows their belief that no food can be consumed after midday and leads them to stand in a line to fill their bowl of rice, then sit on the floor in rows like in a school cafeteria and silently fill themselves with assorted vegetables, curries and meats that are waiting for them.
The monks are all modestly dressed in their crimson (or cardinal?) coloured robes, with the novices under 20 years old (some under 10). We were told all Myanmar men must become monks twice in their lives, once as a novice under 20 and again as a full monk after 20. Each period can be as short as a month but obviously the expectation is that some men will choose it as their lifelong passion.
Outside the monastery most men wore the traditional longhi which is a circular piece of long cloth that they wrap around them and then knot tightly in front. Many men chewed the betel nut but which leads to constant spitting of its red juice on footpaths and streets everywhere. Betel nut also rotted the men’s teeth and turned their whole mouth and lips a disgusting red. Our driver Oh oh chewed betel nut and we sometimes had to stop so he could open his door and spit. When he spoke to us it sounded like he had a mouth full of marbles in his mouth (which I think would have been smarter than betel nuts).
Women wear a similar wrap-around sarong with a nice blouse and always took pride in their appearance. They often wore the traditional ‘paint’ on their face extracted from the TaNaKah tree which was applied as a cream coloured substance that dried on their face. It allegedly acted as both sun screen and make up but it seemed more like it was worn as part of their traditional dress.
We also hit the colourful vegetable and meat market in the village of Nyaung U and a workshop where they make their traditional lacquerware goods. And throughout the day we had to dodge the countless children trying to sell us a variety of unwanted items, they were persistent and friendly but how many times can you answer the question “Where you from?”.
After the stunning sunset on top of the Shwesandaw Paya we fell into what would be a familiar routine, a couple of bottles of cold Myanmar beer to wash down the dirt and relive the incredible day. What a privilege!
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