Bagan pagodas: Lawkananda, Seinnyet, Bupaya

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Official name     :  Republic of the Union of MyanmarArea                  :  676 600 km² Population         :  61 millions Capital              :  Nay Pyi Daw since 2005Biggest city       :  Yangon (Almost 6 millions inhabitants)

Sharing a common border with India, China, Bangladesh, Laos, and Thailand, Myanmar is about the size France and England together, one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia. Its length is about 2.000 km from the Tenasseri Peninsula in the south to the north of Himalaya mountain ranges which border Yunnan, Tibet and India

People and ethnic groups:  Out of the 135 different ethnic groups, 68% are Burmese, 9% Shan, 7% KarenOfficial language:  Burmese (Sino–tibetan)Religion:  Theravada Bouddhism (87%),

Christians (5%), Islam (4%)

Myanmar

In the second half of the 16th century, the Toungoo Dynasty (1510–1752) reunified the country, and founded the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a brief period.

Lawkananda pagoda, on a little hill, overlooking the Ayeyarwady river

Adenium obesum is a species of flowering plant native to the Sahel regions, south of the Sahara (from Mauritania and Senegal to Sudan), and tropical and subtropical eastern and southern Africa and Arabia.

Adenium obesum (Desert Rose) Common names include Sabi star, kudu, mock azalea and impala lily

Adenium obesum (Desert Rose).

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Lawkananda Pagoda (also spelt Lokananda, literally "joy of the world") is a Buddhist zedi (stupa) erected on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River, and built during the reign of King Anawrahta, in 1059. It contains a replica of a Buddha tooth relic. The tooth relic enshrined in it was brought from Sri Lanka.

The Chinthe is a leogryph (lion-like creature) that is often seen at the entrances of pagodas and temples in Burma and other Southeast Asian countries.

Irrawaddy River, Burmese Ayeyarwady,  principal river of Myanmar, running through the centre of the country.

Its name is believed to derive from the Sanskrit term airāvatī, meaning “elephant river”

Myanmar’s most important

commercial waterway,

Ayeyarwady  is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long.

"The shape of the stupa

represents the Buddha,

crowned and sitting in

meditation posture on a lion

throne. His crown is the top of the spire; his

head is the square at the

spire's base; his body is the vase shape; his legs

are the four steps of the

lower terrace; and the base is

his throne.”

On 24 May 2003, a bejeweled umbrella (hti) was hoisted to the top of the pagoda.

Euphorbia milii (Crown-of-thorns or Christ Plant) are dotted around everywhere in glazed pots. This odd plant originates from Madagascar and is believed to have found its way to the Middle East before the birth of Christ.

Crown of Thorns Plant - Euphorbia milii

The "Seinnyet Sisters“; the Ama (Elder Sister) a temple and the Nyima (Younger Sister) a pagoda. stand together in a brick enclosure. The temple has entrances on all four sides but the eastern entrance is the main one.

Seinnyet Nyima Pagoda was traditionally assigned to 11th century AD. It is a stupa with three terraces and bell shaped dome topped by a beautiful stylized umbrella

The bell shaped dome is ornamented with moulded bands and kirttimukha (ogre-head) pendants. between four pedimented niches facing the cardinal points.

The Ama (Elder Sister), a temple, has entrances on all four sides but the eastern entrance is the main one. The superstructure consists of four steep receding terraces. Above these terraces rises a curvilinear spire.

The triple pediments which once framed the entrances are now much damaged but the stucco carvings which remain decorative scrolls, ogre-heads disgorging flowers, bird and animal figures some of which are mythical hint at the richness of the original ornamentation.

This stupa and shrine standing side by side are traditionally ascribed to Queen Seinnyet in the 11th century, although the architecture clearly points to a period two centuries later.

Cassia leptophylla - Gold Medallion Tree (Ngu War)Small tree, fast growing, easy to shape crown. Beautiful clusters of yellow flowers from spring through summer and sporadically in fall and winter. Very popular in Southern landscapes.

Cassia leptophylla - Gold Medallion Tree (Ngu War)

Many damaged pagodas underwent restorations in the 1990s by the military government, which sought to make Bagan an international tourist destination. However, the restoration efforts instead drew widespread condemnation from art historians and preservationists worldwide.

Critics are aghast that the restorations paid little attention to original architectural styles, and used modern materials, and that the government has also established a golf course, a paved highway, and built a 61-meter (200-foot) watchtower. Although the government believed that the ancient capital's hundreds of (unrestored) temples and large corpus of stone inscriptions were more than sufficient to win the designation of UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city has not been so designated, allegedly mainly on account of the restorations.An application for World Heritage status was rejected in the mid-1990s because of a highway laid across the zone to welcome the visiting Indonesian president, Suharto.

Bupaya Pagoda

Bupaya Pagoda is a notable pagoda at a bend on the right bank of the Ayeyarwady River. The small pagoda, which has a bulbous shaped dome, is widely believed to have been built by the third King of Pagan, Pyusawhti who ruled from 168 to 243 AD. It is one of the most notable shrines among the thousands of new or ruined Pagodas in Pagan.

The original pagoda was completely destroyed in the 1975 earthquake. As result of this earthquake, the bulbous pagoda broke into pieces and fell into the river. It was, however, fully reconstructed using modern materials, with lesser adherence to the original design. Subsequently it was built as a gilded superstructure.

Text: Internet

Pictures: Sanda Foişoreanu & Internet

Copyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanu www.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Burma Traditional Music