|
Date: |
|
Description: | Photograph of the Seddanagyi Pagoda in Pagan (Bagan), Burma (Myanmar), from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections: Burma Circle, 1907-13. The photograph was taken by an unknown photographer of the Burma Archaeological Survey.
Pagan is one of the most spectacular sites not only in Burma but in Southeast Asia. Its unique collection of ruins spreads over 40 square kilometres beside the Ayeyarwaddy (Irrawaddy) River. There are thousands of stupas and temples, large and small. Evidence shows that Pagan was inhabited almost 2,000 years ago, but these buildings date from a fervour of construction spanning 250 years from the mid-11th century. The great King Anawrahta, who ruled from AD 1044 to 1077, built some of its greatest monuments, making it a major centre of Theravada Buddhism.
Kublai Khan's Mongols purportedly ransacked it in the 13th century, but the causes for the decline of this city-state from about the 14th century is debated by scholars.
The Seddanagyi is a huge stupa located near the village of Thiriyapyitsaya and is one of the most southerly of Pagan's monuments. Its origins may be older but it was rebuilt by King Nadaungmya (ruled 1211-30), and is from Pagan's Late Period. It has a square plan with five terraces, and the plinth is decorated with rows of elephants facing outwards. The terrace corners are marked with much-damaged
subsidiary stupas. | License: | http://www.bl.uk/services/copy/permission.html | Rights holder: | British Library | Source: | Collect Britain | Creator: | Archaeological Survey of India | Identifier: | http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personal... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
|
|